{"id":1444386,"date":"2023-12-17T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1444386"},"modified":"2023-12-17T13:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T18:10:00","slug":"a-no-brainer-musks-starlink-breaks-through-bureaucracy-and-corruption-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/a-no-brainer-musks-starlink-breaks-through-bureaucracy-and-corruption-in-africa\/1444386\/","title":{"rendered":"“A No Brainer”: Musk’s Starlink Breaks Through Bureaucracy And Corruption In Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A No Brainer”: Musk’s Starlink Breaks Through Bureaucracy And Corruption In Africa<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Darren Taylor via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

Elon Musk\u2019s revolutionary satellite internet service, Starlink, is spreading across Africa<\/strong>, flying in the face of repressive and corrupt regimes that are trying to block it.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk\u2019s cheaper, faster Starlink satellite internet service is growing in popularity in Africa, but some governments are still resisting it.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In some cases, African companies are “illegally” importing and selling the equipment to allow users to bypass expensive and often state-controlled internet service providers (ISPs), and to use the cheaper and faster connectivity provided by the world\u2019s richest man.<\/p>\n

Many Africans living in countries where authorities haven’t yet granted regulatory licenses to Starlink, which is a division of SpaceX, are also accessing its services using signal-boosting equipment.<\/p>\n

The signal boosters enable users to link to a SpaceX “ground station” in Nigeria, which in January became the first African country to grant regulatory approval to Starlink services.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The tech revolution is happening at a pace that most African governments just cannot keep up with,” said Arthur Goldstuck, founder and CEO of World Wide Worx, one of Africa\u2019s leading tech firms.<\/p>\n

“The genie is out the bottle. The sooner they realize that they can\u2019t control the uncontrollable, the better for them and the better for their people,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Goldstuck said Africa is the world\u2019s fastest-growing, but most “technologically-starved,” continent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Data is expensive in Africa, and you can\u2019t progress in the modern world when data is expensive. So demand for well-priced and speedy connectivity has exploded. Musk is feeding this demand,” he told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

“Some governments don\u2019t like this, because they want to control everything, and mostly they want to control money and information flows.”<\/p>\n

Starlink, operated by Mr. Musk\u2019s SpaceX spacecraft manufacturer and satellite operator, has a constellation of thousands of satellites in low orbit, delivering the world\u2019s “most advanced broadband internet system” to 60 countries, according to its website.<\/p>\n

Mr. Goldstuck said “progressive” African governments that encourage private enterprise and respect its ability to help develop their countries have “no problem” with Starlink and recognize its value.<\/p>\n

“It offers high-speed streaming, video calls, and remote working, all of which contribute a lot to economic efficiency,<\/strong>” he said.<\/p>\n

Officially, Starlink is available in only seven of Africa\u2019s 54 countries: Benin, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia. Another 25 are scheduled to go online in 2024.<\/p>\n

Young Somali women look at a smartphone at Dadaab refugee complex, in the northeast of Kenya, on April 16, 2018. (Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

“Look at where [the] powers-that-be are trying to prevent the entrance of Starlink: It\u2019s war-torn countries like Sudan, Libya, and Somalia. It\u2019s repressive regimes like Congo and Equatorial Guinea, that restrict access to information,” Mr. Goldstuck said.<\/p>\n

“And it\u2019s governments that have vested interests in keeping data expensive, and that have unreasonable rules designed to benefit political elites, like South Africa.”<\/p>\n

Some African governments slap heavy taxes on private telecom services and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

For decades, the data needed to access the internet in Africa has been controlled by just a few multinational mobile telecommunications corporations, including South Africa\u2019s MTN Group and Vodacom, and Kenya\u2019s Safaricom.<\/p>\n

Their data packages are prohibitively expensive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July 2022, research by British technology company Cable, published in Mobile Magazine<\/a>, showed that six of the 10 countries with the most expensive data are in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

In the tiny, mineral-rich kleptocracy of Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa, one gigabyte (GB) costs almost $50, the highest price for data in the world. In Chad, 1 GB costs $24.<\/p>\n

Until Starlink\u2019s recent arrival, 1 GB was priced at $26 in Malawi.<\/p>\n

An August 2022 report<\/a> by global statistics service Statista calculated the average cost of 1 GB of mobile data in sub-Saharan Africa at $4.47.<\/p>\n

A one-time hardware and installation cost of Starlink kits, which contain a motorized satellite dish, assorted cables, a metal tripod stand, a power adapter, and a Wi-Fi router, is about the same everywhere: $550.<\/p>\n

But basic monthly subscription prices in the developed world, compared with those in Africa, are very different.<\/p>\n

In the United States, for example, Starlink\u2019s monthly service fee is $110. In the African countries that officially have Starlink, the average price is about $45.<\/p>\n

This $45 package allows users to download 1,000 GB of data, meaning 1GB costs Africans less than $0.50\u2014nine times cheaper than the average in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

“This is a no-brainer<\/strong>,” said Nigeria-born Makinde Adeagbo, a freelance software engineer who has worked at Facebook, Microsoft, and Pinterest, and is currently based in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s no wonder African companies are coming up with all kinds of schemes to get access to Starlink,” Mr. Adeagbo said.<\/p>\n

“Because of the equipment cost, it\u2019s too expensive at the moment for the vast majority of Africans to afford. But businesses, government departments, schools, shopping centers … They sure can afford it.”<\/p>\n

Schoolchildren from Avrankou-Houeze school attend a class at City Hall in Avrankou, Benin, on Jan. 18, 2019. (Yanick Folly\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Breaking Through in South Africa<\/h2>\n

South Africa, the nation in which Mr. Musk was born, is potentially the continent\u2019s most lucrative telecom market. It’s also one of those trying to obstruct Starlink.<\/p>\n

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has enacted the Electronic Communications Act, which requires all telecom firms operating in South Africa to be 30 percent owned by “groups and\/or individuals historically disadvantaged” by apartheid.<\/p>\n

In May, at a tech carnival in Johannesburg, Starlink Director of Sales Phillip van Essen was diplomatic when he addressed the question of why Starlink isn\u2019t officially present in Africa\u2019s most technologically advanced economy.<\/p>\n

“We prioritize the countries that make it easy for us to do business there, open entities, and get regulatory approvals,<\/strong>” he told reporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We respect that every country has their own process. … and we have a dedicated team that is focused on regulatory efforts globally, including South Africa. We’re hopeful that we can resolve the issues and start service here soon.”<\/p>\n

Since then, however, the government\u2014via its Independent Communications Authority of South Africa\u2014 (ICASA), has clamped down on companies offering Starlink packages in the country.<\/p>\n

In June, IT-Lec, a firm selling internet access in South Africa\u2019s remote Northern Cape province, imported more than 4,000 Starlink start-up kits.<\/p>\n

“Because of its portability and ease-of-use\u2014not to mention low cost and high speed\u2014we saw the Starlink kit as ideal for our customers<\/strong>,” Mauritz Coetzee, IT-Lec’s managing director, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

“They stay in the most isolated, rural areas of South Africa, where they\u2019re not able to get broadband connectivity because the established ISPs don\u2019t operate where they live.”<\/p>\n

Mr. Coetzee said he didn\u2019t “just blindly buy” thousands of Starlink kits.<\/p>\n

“My legal advice was that I was completely within my rights to use Starlink\u2019s international roaming service,” he said.<\/p>\n

IT-Lec was able to provide Starlink services for South Africans by purchasing a Starlink International roaming subscription in neighboring Mozambique, where Starlink is authorized to operate, and then selling the required equipment to clients.<\/p>\n

Read more here…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 12\/17\/2023 – 08:10<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/markets\/no-brainer-musks-starlink-breaks-through-bureaucracy-and-corruption-africa<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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