Good news about Starlink in South Africa

South Africa recently announced that it would introduce policy directives to allow equity equivalent programmes to encourage foreign investment in the country’s telecommunications market.
This would ultimately lessen the barriers that have made SpaceX’s low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite service Starlink reluctant to launch in the country.
For nearly four years, the telecoms industry was in a state of uncertainty after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) published its new local ownership regulations on 31 March 2021.
This superseded the existing Electronic Communications Act (ECA) provisions, which required that telecommunications companies offering national services be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDGs).
Instead, telecommunications providers with a national footprint had to be 30% black-owned.
Due to industry backlash, Icasa never implemented these regulations. It published them, but declared them suspended until it puts them into force at an unspecified future date.
Icasa also hasn’t indicated whether it will implement or revoke the regulations, leaving a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the industry.
To address this issue, communications minister Solly Malatsi has announced that he will direct Icasa to develop equity equivalent programmes similar to those in other industries.
Officially, this is to help increase competition in the sector.
Malatsi’s spokesperson, Kwena Moloto, said that introducing equity equivalent programmes will allow international companies to more easily invest in South Africa’s telecoms market while ensuring that these investments benefit South Africans.
Moloto said the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) hopes to create a more dynamic market conducive to increased competition, improved services, accessible prices, and greater Internet access.
Equity equivalent programmes are an alternative to the traditional requirements of B-BBEE, allowing companies to meet transformation objectives by investing in local initiatives.
Moloto specifically referred to Starlink when discussing these programmes.
“One of the most frequently discussed potential entrants is Starlink, a global satellite internet provider. Allowing such new players into the market will increase competition, enhance service options and drive down data prices,” Moloto said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa met with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in September 2024 to discuss investment in South Africa.
The meeting came roughly a month after the President had announced that the government was in talks with SpaceX regarding the satellite service.
“I have had discussions with him and have said, Elon, you have become so successful, and you’re investing in a variety of countries; I want you to come home and invest here,” said Ramaphosa.
Starlink was initially scheduled to launch in February 2021.
In April 2021, Icasa told MyBroadband that Starlink would need to comply with the black ownership requirement.
Six months after the regulations were published, around November 2021, Starlink pushed back its planned launch in South Africa to 2023.
Nearly a year later, in September 2022, it was changed to “unknown”, where it has remained until today.
Although SpaceX never confirmed that the new ownership requirements and the uncertainty around it caused it to halt its South African plans, well-placed industry sources have said they were absolutely to blame.
Slow Africa rollout with huge demand
Not only is Starlink being rolled out at a snail’s pace in the rest of Africa, but it is also struggling to keep up with demand because it offers much better performance and value for money than competing services.
Although Starlink rolled out to seven more countries on the continent during 2024—doubling its footprint—it delayed the estimated launch dates of 24 more countries to 2025.
In addition, the launch timeframes of three northern African countries — Egypt, Morocco, and Western Sahara — were also changed from 2024 to “Unknown.”
Overall, Starlink only rolled out to 18% of the African countries where it had planned to launch in 2024.
The seven new countries where Starlink launched in 2024 were Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe.
Where Starlink has rolled out, demand often quickly outstrips capacity.
Demand has been so high that the company has halted new sales in and around populated areas.
Unlike many more developed markets where Starlink previously launched, these countries have poorly developed infrastructure, even in urban environments.
Starlink may have underestimated the demand for affordable Internet access in locations where it does not yet have the necessary satellite capacity.
Subscribers have reported average speeds dropping from the triple digits to low double digits in cities like Harare, where users can no longer place orders.
At the time of publication, the service was also unavailable to order in and around Abuja, Accra, Benin City, Bulawayo, Lagos, Lusaka, Nairobi, and Port Harcourt.
The company has also suspended subscriptions for new roaming plans.
That came after it had already made it more difficult for existing South African roaming users to access the service by forcing them to return to the country of registration every 60 days.