Tech billionaire Elon Musk, founder and owner of the American satellite internet service provider Starlink, has responded to the recent suspension of new subscriptions in Nairobi and other African cities.
In a statement, Musk said Starlink is in the process of increasing internet capacity in African urban areas.
However, Elon Musk explained that Starlink’s internet capacity outside cities is still significant.
“Starlink is working to increase Internet capacity in dense urban areas in Africa as fast as possible. Please note that there is still significant capacity outside of city centers,” Musk said.
Starlink Suspension in Africa
Starlink halted sales of its roaming plans in all African countries.
The Company removed African countries from its list of roaming subscription options.
The service currently shows as “Sold Out” for new residential customers in large cities like Harare in Zimbabwe, Lusaka in Zambia, Nairobi in Kenya, Lagos in Nigeria and South Africa.
Affected Areas in Kenya
In Kenya, Nairobi residents raised concerns about the Company failing to provide residential, business, and ROAM service plans.
Starlink said the suspension affected seven areas is due to a network overload, adding that its network capacity is full and cannot contain more users.
“Nairobi and neighboring areas are currently at network capacity. This means that too many users are trying to access the Starlink service within Nairobi and there isn’t enough bandwidth to support additional residential or roaming customers at this time,” Starlink said.
Also Read: Starlink Explains Suspension of New Customers in Nairobi & 6 Counties
The Company explained that its roaming services are not available, and the team is working to restore services in affected areas.
Affected customers will receive notifications once the services are back in their respective areas.
“No roaming plans are available in Kenya at this time. Starlink is working to restore service in the disrupted areas and a notification will be sent once the residential plan is back,” Starlink added.
Other affected areas include Thika, Kajiado, Kiambu, parts of Murang’a, Naivasha, Ngong, Machakos and sections of Narok. In General, seven counties were affected.
Further, Starlink said the affordable packages were sold out and only those charging above Ksh130,000 per month were available.
Starlink launched in Kenya in July 2023 and has increasingly offered competitively priced internet packages and better speed.
Also Read: Elon Musk Announces New Blocking Update; How it Works
Ruto Defends Elon Musk
Speaking in September 24, President William Ruto addressed the competition between Safaricom and Starlink.
Ruto mentioned that Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa was not happy about the entry of Starlink into the Kenyan market.
The President defended Starlink stating that it will encourage competition between the different players.
“I have my CEO for Safaricom here, sometimes he is not happy with me for bringing in some other characters like Elon Musk and the like,” he said.
Additionally, Ruto spoke directly to Ndegwa telling him that Safaricom would still thrive and would now have to become more competitive.
“But you see I keep encouraging Peter that competition helps you keep ahead. And he has really been trying because he has upped his game, so we want to keep that space competitive,” Ruto said.
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