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How Starlink Took over Africa’s Largest Internet Market

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Elon Musk, owner of Starlink
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Starlink has become a major internet service provider in Nigeria, driven by its reliable, high-speed access.

How Starlink Took over Africa’s Largest Internet Market

Its success has led to local internet service providers losing subscribers and raising concerns about unfair competition, according to restofworld.org, which reports global tech stories.

Critical institutions have avoided using Starlink’s network because of national security concerns.

In the sprawling electronic market of Lagos’ Computer Village, an item is flying off the shelves: the Starlink kit.

These satellite dishes, with their distinctive white faces and plug-and-play simplicity, represent more than just easy internet availability in Nigeria. They symbolize a technological coup in Africa’s most populous nation, where terrestrial broadband or wireless options are unreliable or inaccessible.

“I have about 20 pieces in the store, but I’m sure they will go before today ends or at the latest tomorrow morning,” Quadri AbdulFatai, a local electronics vendor who claims to have sold more than a thousand units in just 13 months, told Rest of World. “Starlink is very hot now.”

In January 2023, Nigeria became the first African market that Starlink entered.

Two years later, it now ranks second among internet service providers, which are classified separately from large telecom players by the Nigerian authorities.

With over 65,500 users at the end of the third quarter last year, Starlink is second only to 16-year-old Lagos-based ISP Spectranet, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s telecom regulator.

At current growth rates, analysts predict Starlink will become Nigeria’s top internet service provider by mid-2026.

The secret to Starlink’s meteoric rise lies in a simple market reality: Nigerians are desperate for reliable, high-speed internet, which local providers have consistently failed to deliver, according to Temidayo Oniosun, managing director at Space in Africa, a market intelligence company focusing on the continent’s space and satellite industry.

Telecom companies and traditional ISPs in Nigeria suffer from frequent outages, sluggish speeds, and spotty coverage, especially in rural areas where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or nonexistent.

“Nigerians want high-speed and reliable internet, and Starlink’s technology offers that better than anyone else,” Oniosun told Rest of World.

“That’s why it is growing at an incredible speed. While the services aren’t the cheapest, launching with different pricing in different African markets shows that Starlink understands the markets.”

Starlink has made investments in building infrastructure in Nigeria. It has built a base station in Lagos and plans to add facilities in neighboring Abeokuta and Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil hub.

These stations will enable the company to beam low-latency internet directly to its rapidly growing user base throughout the country. Low latency is the ability of a network to respond with minimal delay.

Starlink’s success has unsettled competitors. When the company increased subscription prices last October, local operators cried foul, accusing regulator NCC of applying double standards by ignoring their requests for tariff reviews.

The regulator eventually granted local providers a 50% tariff increase in January, but customer perception had been damaged.

The regulator has fostered a fair and enabling environment that empowers all licensed operators, including Starlink, “to compete, innovate, and grow in response to market needs,” an NCC spokesperson told Rest of World.

The regulator has fostered a fair and enabling environment that empowers all licensed operators, including Starlink, “to compete, innovate, and grow in response to market needs,” an NCC spokesperson told Rest of World.

The regulator has licensed over 27 satellite-based communications services providers and issued over 90 landing rights to space segment operators, which include established providers like Eutelsat, SES, Viasat, and YahClick.

“In recent times, the commission has observed growing interest from both established global players and new entrants (especially those providing emerging satellite services) seeking to enter the Nigerian market,” the spokesperson said.

“This level of engagement reflects growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s digital economy and the enabling environment provided by the commission.”

Nigeria has 241 licensed ISPs, of which only 124 had active users as of the third quarter of 2024, collectively serving more than 300,000 subscribers, according to NCC data.

Starlink’s arrival has been nothing short of catastrophic for incumbents. Market leader Spectranet lost 8,428 subscribers between the last quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024, while Tizeti lost about 700 in the same period.

While the losses appear modest, they are significant in the context of the small size of the market served by Nigeria’s ISPs.

The internet landscape is more dominated by mobile network operators MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile, which collectively serve 132.4 million subscribers, providing both internet access as well as traditional phone services.

The playing field is fundamentally uneven, said Temitope Osunrinde, chief marketing officer at Tizeti.

The challenges for local operators include buying spectrum and building local capacity, hiring talent, and paying multiple taxes. If digging for fiber, they have to contend with multiple local government right-of-way permits and also area goons.

“You can’t compare Starlink with local companies because they don’t have to set up local capacity, nor hire and set up an office,” Osunrinde told Rest of World.

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), believes Starlink’s success reflects not a failure of local providers but “a challenging operating environment, which includes issues such as multiple taxes, multiple regulations, high right-of-way charges, infrastructure vandalism, and the rising cost of foreign exchange.”

Yet for ordinary Nigerians, these industry complaints hold little water compared with the tangible benefits of reliable connectivity. “For me, it was less speed and more concern about constant internet blackouts during meetings,” Olumide Lewis, a Lagos-based tech worker who recently installed Starlink, told Rest of World. “Since we bought our Starlink, we have had some peace of mind. We don’t spend our time thinking about the bad internet again because everything just works.”


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Tarana, Microsoft Enhance Africa’s Broadband Connectivity

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Tarana, provider of next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) broadband technology, is collaborating with Microsoft to expand internet access in rural and underserved communities across Africa.

Together, the companies will help service providers in rural and underserved Africa deploy government-approved telecom equipment, along with training and technical support.

This comes as access to secure; affordable telecom equipment remains a major barrier to internet connectivity in Africa. Despite progress, high infrastructure costs and limited rural coverage have allowed the digital divide to persist.

Tarana stated that in some areas, fewer than 30% of people have dependable internet connectivity.

To that end, it said its collaboration with Microsoft will help reduce the cost of ngFWA equipment for African internet service providers while also assisting with deployment logistics, enabling them to give internet access more faster and more cost-effectively.

The company went on to say overcoming two primary limitations of traditional fixed wireless access) technology, ngFWA delivers high-speed broadband service in both non-line-of-sight conditions and heavy radio interference, making it an ideal solution for hard-to-reach and underserved markets.

More than 250 operators worldwide are deploying ngFWA to deliver better broadband more efficiently, said the company.

Basil Alwan, CEO of Tarana, added: “We look forward to making significant progress on the digital divide together.”

“Access to affordable, secure broadband infrastructure is essential for unlocking economic opportunity through digital access across Africa,” said Vickie Robinson, general manager, energy, connectivity, and sustainability at Microsoft. “By working with Tarana, we’re helping local operators overcome cost and deployment barriers so they can bring high-speed connectivity to the communities that need it most.”


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Mobile Industry Emissions Down 8%, But Pace Must Double to Hit Net Zero

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The mobile industry’s operational emissions fell by 8% between 2019 and 2023, even as mobile connections grew by 9% and data traffic quadrupled, according to the GSMA’s fifth annual Mobile Net Zero report released this week.

The findings show the mobile industry has successfully started to decouple emissions from data and connectivity growth – a stark contrast to global emissions, which have increased 4% since 2019. However, to continue progress and reach net zero by 2050, emissions must fall by 7.5% annually until 2030 – more than twice the average annual rate achieved to date.

Key findings from the report include:

  • Preliminary 2024 data suggests a further 4.5% drop in emissions – an acceleration on previous years, but still short of the 7.5% annual reduction needed to 2030.
  • 37% of electricity used by operators disclosing to CDP came from renewables in 2023, up from 13% in 2019 – avoiding 16 million tonnes of emissions.
  • 81 mobile operators (covering nearly half of global connections) have set or committed to science-based targets.
  • The GSMA Climate Action Taskforce now includes 77 operators, covering 80% of mobile connections worldwide.
  • Europe (-56%), North America (-44%), and Latin America (-36%) lead the way in operational emissions reductions between 2019 and 2023.
  • New analysis of China shows operational emissions likely fell by 4% in 2024 – the first decline after a 7% rise between 2019–2023 – alongside a more than quadrupling of renewable energy use.

Global, collaborative climate action gathers pace

The acceleration in decarbonisation is driven by operator actions to improve network energy efficiency and transition to clean energy, including solar and battery storage. Many operators are phasing out less efficient legacy networks and reducing their reliance on diesel generators.

Some markets are seeing better renewable electricity access through policy support and market reform, but the GSMA warns that the accelerated reductions needed by 2030 will require greater access across more markets.

Regional momentum is building globally, with Europe and the Americas leading emissions reductions, while Asia and Africa show increasing engagement. China, representing the world’s largest mobile market with more than one billion 5G connections, shows promising progress in 2024.

New analysis published today to frame discussions at MWC25 Shanghai indicates China’s operational emissions declined for the first time in 2024, with preliminary data showing a 4% reduction year-on-year driven by a more than quadrupling in renewable energy use by operators. As the industry’s largest single market, China’s progress is instrumental in achieving global net zero targets.

Steven Moore, Head of Climate Action at the GSMA comments: “Our findings show the mobile industry isn’t greenwashing or greenwishing – it’s green acting. Emissions are trending in the right direction, but the pace of progress must now double.

“This is a global effort, and it’s encouraging to see momentum building across every region – from Latin America to Europe and especially to China.

“But to sustain this progress, we need broader support: better access to renewables, more policy certainty, and stronger collaboration across the ecosystem. Supply chain emissions, which make up most of our industry’s footprint, must also be addressed – and climate transition plans will play an increasingly important role in navigating what comes next.”

Focus on Scope 3 and circularity sharpens

The report emphasises that Scope 3 emissions – mostly from supply chains and manufacturing – account for more than two-thirds of the industry’s total carbon footprint and require attention. While transparency is improving, Scope 3 emissions remain a blind spot compared with operational emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), making them a critical challenge for operators with science-based targets, which require reductions across full value chain emissions.

Additionally, the report points to growing momentum around circular economy initiatives. Consumer appetite for sustainable devices is rising, with around 90% of users surveyed by GSMA saying they value longevity and repairability, and nearly half considering refurbished for their next phone purchase.

Buying refurbished instead of new can save consumers money and reduce environmental impacts from manufacturing, with refurbished phones generating 80-90% fewer emissions than new ones. While new device sales have slowed in recent years, the second-hand device market is growing rapidly, and projected to be worth $150 billion by 2027.

Many leading operators are now developing climate transition plans to assess climate risks and map out credible, long-term strategies toward net zero. These plans are expected to become a key focus of the GSMA’s Climate Action Programme over the coming year.


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MTN’s Ikenna Ikeme Urges Responsible AI Use @Pan African Data Policy Conference

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The use of local content in Artificial Intelligence systems is essential for delivering accurate, region-specific results, according to MTN Nigeria’s General Manager for Regulatory Affairs, Ikenna Ikeme.

He shared this perspective at the recently held Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA) Conference, held in Abuja recently.

The conference convened industry leaders, policymakers, and experts to discuss the role of data and AI in shaping Africa’s future. Key discussions focused on balancing innovation with risk, safeguarding data in AI systems, promoting responsible data use, and enabling cross-border data flows.

During a panel on “Data Governance for Responsible and Beneficial Use of AI,” Ikeme highlighted data’s dual nature. “Data can be transformational by bringing efficiency to businesses, but it also presents risks, ranging from privacy to investment,” he stated. He warned against relying too much on external data.

Adewale Adene, Google’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, also spoke at the session. Adene projected AI and data governance could add $30 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2030. “All relevant authorities and stakeholders must ensure Africa is positioned to capitalise on this new economy,” he urged.

Other panelists included Nonye Ujam, Government Affairs Lead at Microsoft; Ololade Shyllon, Director of Privacy Policy for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey at Meta; Oliver Patel, Head of Enterprise AI Governance at AstraZeneca (who joined remotely); Femi Daniel, Senior Counsel, Privacy and Data Protection at Mastercard; and Adewolu Adene, Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager at Google.

The conference stressed the urgent need for African stakeholders to create strategic policies. These policies should support both growth and safety.

Participants called for collaboration, investment in local data infrastructure, and strong legal frameworks. This is to ensure AI technologies are developed and used responsibly.

The NADPA Conference served as a timely call to action. It urged governments, companies, and regulators to prioritise trust and transparency. Homegrown solutions are key in shaping Africa’s digital destiny, the conference concluded.


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