Starlink, a satellite internet network operated by SpaceX, has been granted a license by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, revealed on Twitter that Nigeria and Mozambique have approved Starlink, the satellite internet service developed by SpaceX.
Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd has secured two licenses, including an international gateway license and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) license, and will trade as Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd.
Ubale Maska, NCC’s Executive Commissioner for Technical Services, promised them that the NCC will work on the required mechanisms to balance the need for healthy competition with the entry of new technologies in order to protect all sector players.
“As the regulator of Nigeria’s most dynamic industry, the Commission is cognizant of the need to ensure that our regulatory actions are grounded on national interest,” Maska said. We listened to your presentation and will consider it in light of our regulatory goals of fostering a successful and long-term telecoms ecosystem in which a licensee’s business model does not stifle healthy competition among other licensees.”
Starlink enables video chats, online gaming, streaming, and other high-data-rate activities that had previously been impossible with satellite Internet, thanks to high speeds and low latency as low as 20 minutes in most places. Users can also use the Portability feature or Starlink to take Starlink with them.
Ryan Goodnight, Starlink’s Market Access Director for Africa, and Levin Born, a SpaceX consultant, visited the NCC in May of last year to express interest in obtaining a license to offer satellite internet in the country.
The international gateway license is valid for ten years, whereas the ISP license is valid for five years, according to NCC.
Both licenses are valid until May 2022, after which they can be renewed.
