Elon Musk’s satellite company SpaceX has reduced the costs of its hardware and subscription plan to N274,098 and N19,260 per month, respectively.
Recall that Nairametrics previously reported that Starlink had set $600 and $43 as its hardware and monthly subscription cost, respectively, which comes out to roughly N438,000 and N31,000 at the parallel market rate.
Some Nigerians who pre-ordered the hardware last year paid upfront and in dollars. But the company’s prices are now quoted in naira, meaning Nigerians can make payments with their debit card in naira.
First in Africa: With the official announcement, Nigeria becomes the first African country to witness the launch of Starlink.
In response to SpaceX’s tweet announcing the development, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami said:
- “We have done it again. @SpaceX, thank you for hosting me at your headquarters, USA, in December 2022 to complete the logistics of the deployment.”
Recall that the Minister had stated last week that Nigeria has reached 100% broadband coverage with the operation of Starlink, whose satellite service covers the length and breadth of the country. According to him, through the National Broadband Plan (NBP 2020-2025), Nigeria was targeting 90% broadband coverage by the year 2025 and this was achieved in advance through the Starlink license, as Nigerians can now have high speed internet access. from any part of the country.
Increased competition: With the price reduction, the competition in the internet service provisioning space in Nigeria is expected to get tougher as Starlink now challenges the likes of MTN, Airtel, Globacom, 9mobile and hundreds of other internet service providers. in Nigeria who provide services through different technologies. including fiber and satellite.
Starlink’s speed is its selling point: The company said on its website that Nigerians on Starlink will see download speeds of 50-200 Mbps. An early user of the service in Nigeria, Bello Gbadebo, had attested to the speed saying he got around 20 Mbps on the initial test and then it went up to around 240 Mbps.
