Grace Ashiru
Nigeria is the first country in Africa to get Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. The service went live this week, about six months after the Nigerian government and Musk’s company signed a deal to bring the service to the West African country.
Starlink, which can deliver internet speeds of up to 200 Mbps anywhere in the world, is about to shake up Nigeria’s internet broadband market. This will keep existing telecom players, ISPs, and satellite broadband services on their toes.
As of December 2022, the average download speed for fixed broadband in Nigeria was 11.40 Mbps, and the average upload speed was 9.87 Mbps. The average download speed for mobile internet was 21.54 Mbps, and the average upload speed was 10.10 Mbps.
But its high price is the heels of any possible “disruption.” The SpaceX website says that the hardware equipment costs $ 268,584 ($580) and $ 19,260 ($40) per month.
The SpaceX website says that the hardware equipment costs $ 268,584 ($580) and $ 19,260 ($40) per month. With these prices, the average Nigerian, who lives in a country where the minimum wage is 30,000 ($65) per month, would not be able to buy it.
Even though Starlink is a good alternative to Nigeria’s current ISPs, it remains to be seen how the service will be used in the coming months.
