South Africa’s telecommunications industry is one of the most developed in Africa. South Africa has always been at the forefront of adopting the latest trends in digital communications. Its domain name industry is by far the biggest in Africa and is home to Africa’s biggest internet exchange point. South Africans are served by world-class Indigenous telecommunications giants MTN, Vodacom, and Telkom, who offer nationwide 4G and 5G coverage. Broadband Fibre deployments like FTTH, FTTB, and FTTP are everywhere in the urban parts of South Africa. So, with all the noise about Starlink, does South Africa really need Starlink?
Starlink offers relatively fast global broadband services via low-earth orbit satellites. What makes it unique is the higher internet speed the service can deliver compared to legacy VSAT terminals that rely on geostationary satellites. Starlink has gained much popularity around the world. While one would imagine that it would be primarily helpful outside urban areas considering the prevalence of fibre broadband and 5G networks in large cities, Starlink has had to halt new subscriptions in some large cities of the world due to over subscriptions that are reducing the quality of the service delivery.
What gap can Starlink fill in South Africa?
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A lot! South Africa is vast. At over 1.22 million km², it covers 4% of the African continent and is home to over 60 million people. While cellular networks and fibre operators effectively cover urban parts of South Africa, rural areas are left without effective coverage. Many industries and farms in rural areas need good broadband but have to use slow and expensive fixed wireless technologies. Schools in these areas are also left behind.
Is Starlink not expensive for rural South Africa?
Some have argued that Starlink will not make much of a difference in South Africa, considering the price they charge for their services. While there is an element of truth when one considers their pricing in developed markets like the US, Canada and the UK, market segmentation allows them to price differently in emerging markets such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya. Other major companies like Netflix and DStv do the same. When converted to US Dollars, their varying prices across different markets become more evident. There is no reason to think that Starlink services in South Africa will be priced the same as those in Germany.
Does South Africa need Starlink?
In simple terms, YES. Any service that delivers effective broadband at competitive market prices to rural South Africa is always welcome. There is a lot of ground to cover. Literally.
