On the 30th of January 2023, Elon Musk’s Starlink tweeted its availability in Nigeria, making it the first African country to receive its internet services and the 47th country in the world.
Starlink is a global broadband network, using a constellation of Low Earth Orbit to provide high-speed internet coverage with the capacity to penetrate rural and geographically isolated areas.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, broadband penetration hit 47.36 percent as of December 2022. Nigeria hopes to increase its broadband penetration to 50 per cent in 2023 and 90 percent in 2025.
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said in a statement that Nigeria has reached 100 percent broadband coverage following the licensing and operation of Starlink.
“Based on the National Broadband Plan, we were to have 90 per cent broadband coverage by December 2025. However, we recently gave a license to Starlink to provide services, and this has given us 100% coverage, about 3 years ahead of schedule.”
It costs about 274,000 Naira to set up Starlink, with a monthly charge of 19,260, although the price is steep for some, it offers a dependable source of fast internet for many others. Set up Starlink here
