Finally, NCC includes Elon Musk’s Starlink on Nigeria’s ISP list
by ebor cletus ralph jr
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, owns Starlink, an internet service provider that has finally been admitted to Nigeria’s list of authorised Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Four months after the billionaire tweeted to his 200 million followers that the Nigerian government had given Starlink permission to operate, Musk’s internet service was included on the list of permitted services.
Remember that in May 2021, SpaceX representatives met with NCC representatives to discuss an operational licence with the Nigerian telecommunications authority.
On Wednesday, Starlink was added to a list with 37 additional Internet service providers, bringing the total number of ISPs with operating licences in Nigeria to 255 as of September 2022, an increase from the 187 announced in December 2021.
While the number of ISPs continue to rise, the linternet subscription market is dominated by Mobile Network Operators (MNO), MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile.
Other ISPs have been struggling against the telecom giants, but the entry of Starlink into the data subscription market poses new challenge for MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile, due to the deep pocket Musk’s company comes with.
Unlike other ISPs that will depend on the existing bandwidth capacity in the country, Starlink owns 3,000 satellites through SpaceX, and is already providing internet service to about 40 countries, with only about 500,000 subscribers accessing the infrastructure globally.
Other smaller ISPs find it impossible to compete with MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile’s cheaper data offers, but Starlink is taking the fight to the Mobile Network Operators with Elon Musk prepared to spend between $20 billion and $30 billion, according to his statement in June 2021, to provide cheaper data.
