The news:
- Starlink has doubled its subscription prices in Nigeria, citing “excessive levels of inflation.”
- In an email to customers, the satellite Internet service announced that its standard residential plan with a 1TB fair usage policy will now cost ₦75,000 ($48), up from ₦38,000 ($24). The price for Starlink kits remains unchanged at ₦440,000.
- Roaming customers have been hit the hardest as the price for regional roaming — which allows users to access Starlink services beyond their homes or workplaces within Africa — has increased to ₦167,000 per month from ₦49,000. International roaming will now cost a staggering ₦717,000 per month.
“As a current customer, your monthly service price will increase in 1 month, beginning from 31 October 2024,” part of the email read. New subscribers are immediately affected by the change.
Unlike Kenya, Nigerian customers cannot access a cheaper 50GB plan. Starlink offers a more affordable Mini kit priced at $208.38 (KSh 27,000), with speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Kenyan customers also benefit from lower monthly subscription rates, such as $30.87 (KSh 4,000) for the Mini plan and $50.43 (KSh 6,500) for the standard plan.
These incentives have been seen as Starlink’s response to growing competition from local Internet service providers (ISPs) in Kenya. Leading providers such as Safaricom and Jamii Telecommunications have been upgrading their services to retain customers.
For instance, Safaricom recently increased its Internet fibre speeds while maintaining prices, offering customers up to 500 Mbps on premium plans for $97 (KSh 12,500) monthly.
In August 2024, Starlink also introduced a $15 (KSh 1,950) monthly kit rental option, with an additional one-time activation fee of $21 (KSh 2,730), to the East African market to make its satellite Internet services more accessible.
It’s unclear why these kinds of incentives are missing in Starlink’s operations in Nigeria.
While Starlink offers high-speed, low-latency Internet, particularly in remote regions, its pricing strategy in Nigeria may limit its appeal compared to Kenya, where it is more competitively priced.
As the SpaceX-operated satellite Internet service provider continues to expand across Africa, the growing competition between it and traditional ISPs will shape the continent’s Internet pricing.The company is still expanding rapidly across Africa, with its latest entry into Zimbabwe and Burundi in September 2024.
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