{"id":597129,"date":"2025-06-02T12:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T10:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=597129"},"modified":"2025-06-03T07:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T05:47:20","slug":"starlink-shutdown-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadband\/597129-starlink-shutdown-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Starlink shutdown in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Satellite Internet service Starlink has started cutting off users in South Africa for using its roaming plans in an “unauthorised” country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink began emailing users of its Roam Unlimited and Global Roaming plans in South Africa over the weekend to notify them that their service had been suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You are currently using Starlink in an unauthorised territory. As a result, your service will be suspended effective immediately,” the email stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As outlined in your Terms of Service, Starlink availability depends on many factors, including obtaining or maintaining the necessary regulatory approvals, which are subject to change.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink gave users two options \u2014 cancel the service or access it from an authorised country where it has officially launched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As soon as we receive regulatory approvals to turn on Starlink services, we will let you know,” the company added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africans have been able to use Starlink’s roaming service for nearly two and a half years as a workaround to the lack of official local support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Starlink roaming plans are substantially more expensive than its regular residential services, the service’s speeds and latency are unrivalled in uncapped broadband connectivity in deeply remote areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service remained active even after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) warned South Africans that using or distributing Starlink was “illegal” in November 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from telling Parliament and the media that Starlink had not yet applied for a licence, Icasa had been quiet about the matter for more than a year and a half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament’s grilling of communications minister Solly Malatsi early last week over his policy direction that would introduce equity equivalents in the ICT sector seemed to spur the regulator into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In between the accusations that the minister was giving Starlink a backdoor entry<\/a> into the country, a member of the MK Party complained about people using and distributing the roaming service unlawfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party accused unofficial Starlink kit distributor IcasaSePush of being a “shadow operation” of Starlink itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Icasa promises action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Starlink tested in the Pretoriuskop Rest Camp in Kruger National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A day after the committee meeting, Icasa issued a statement that it was taking steps<\/a> to address the “allegedly unlawful” use of Starlink in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Icasa has taken note, with serious concern, of recent reports alleging that Starlink may be offering its services within the Republic of South Africa without the requisite authorisation,” Icasa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Furthermore, Icasa has instituted a formal investigation to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and to gather relevant facts and evidence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Icasa chairperson Mothibi Ramusi said that if the investigation revealed any breach of regulatory and legislative frameworks, the regulator will explore the applicable enforcement actions at its disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This may include, amongst others, lodging a formal complaint with the International Telecommunication Union,” Ramusi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink appeals for support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Starlink has evoked an ideological and political battle that disregards the people who will benefit from the technology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Starlink recently appealed to South Africans<\/a> who had registered their interest in the service on its website to support the communications minister’s equity equivalents policy direction for the ICT sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company explained that if the government adopted this policy and made the necessary regulatory changes, Starlink could apply for the licences required to launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That means we could finally connect you and thousands of others in South Africa who have been waiting for the Starlink service to become available,” the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the shutdown of roaming services is a blow to many households and businesses that had come to rely on Starlink for reliable Internet access, it may be a step in the right direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Southern African country where Starlink actively blocks its service is Namibia, where Starlink is in discussions for approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Namibia has an estimated Starlink launch date for this year, while South Africa’s launch date has been “unknown” since late 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink also briefly blocked access to roaming in Botswana and Zimbabwe while negotiating with regulators. Within a few months, it was granted licences to operate there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it could take a considerable amount time for the service to officially launch locally even if the telecoms sector adopts equity equivalents, as this will be subject to an extensive legislative process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starlink has started cutting off users on its roaming plans in South Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":528613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18090,12147,563,76862,11375,48987],"class_list":["post-597129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadband","tag-independent-communications-authority-of-south-africa-icasa","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellite-internet","tag-solly-malatsi","tag-spacex","tag-starlink"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597129"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":597271,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597129\/revisions\/597271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}