Starlink has been launched in Botswana, with the country becoming the third country bordering South Africa to get the SpaceX-owned satellite internet service.
While Starlink is yet to publish a launch date for Starlink in South Africa, the service is now available in three neighbouring countries: Botswana, Eswatini (previously Swaziland) and Mozambique. In the broader Southern African region, Starlink is also available in Madagascar, Zambia, Malawi and the islands of Mayotte and Reunion.
According to Starlink, Zimbabwe and Lesotho could be next to go live, with an in-service date on the company’s website of the third quarter of 2024 (July to September). TechZim reported on Monday that Starlink may be targeting a 1 September launch date in Zimbabwe. Namibia is expected to go live by the end of the year.
Other countries in the region with published forecast go-live dates include Mauritius (sometime in 2025), Angola (fourth quarter of 2024), Tanzania (also Q4 2024), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2025), Comoros (2025) and the Seychelles (2025).
South Africa is now one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have an estimated in-service date. “Service date is unknown at this time,” according to an official map showing Starlink’s global launch plans.
SpaceX has not formally said why it has taken so long to launch Starlink services in South Africa, but the delays are rumoured to be related to empowerment rules enforced by communications regulator Icasa.
The launch in Botswana follows a decision in May by that country’s telecommunications regulator to grant Starlink a licence to operate. Bloomberg News reported at the time that Botswana fast-tracked approval of the licence. The decision to grant the permit was taken after President Mokgweetsi Masisi met Starlink executives in Texas earlier in the year.
The launch of Starlink across Africa has led to concerns in some markets about the impact on local operators and markets. Last week, Kenya’s largest network operator, Safaricom, urged regulators there to consider requiring satellite internet providers like Starlink to work through local mobile operators.
Safaricom, which is owned by the Kenyan government, Britain’s Vodafone and South Africa’s Vodacom, wrote to the Communications Authority of Kenya’s director-general last month to express concerns about the granting of independent licences to satellite internet providers, Bloomberg News reported.
In a recent media interview, South African communications minister Solly Malatsi said Starlink must be made welcome in the country, but that it needs to operate within the confines of South Africa’s legal system.