Kenyans Will Pay Africa’s Highest Starlink Setup Costs

According to a local daily report, compared to the other four African nations where the technology is accessible, Kenya and Mozambique will pay the highest fees to deploy satellite Internet on Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Currently, the installation is taking place in six African nations: Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, and Malawi. The installation’s largest expense is the acquisition of the hardware package, which consists of the Starlink dish, a mounting stand, wires, and a power supply.

However, a quick check reveals that there is a discrepancy of up to Sh36,067, or 38.2 percent, between the highest-paying nation and the one with the lowest installation charge.

Users in Mozambique, who began using the service in June of this year, are charged the highest rate of $634 (Sh94,504), followed by Kenyans, who must spend $597.1 (Sh88,999) for the hardware purchase, while Nigerian subscribers are paid the lowest rate of $392.2 (Sh58,437).

The penalty for customers in Nigeria is comparable to that imposed on Rwandans, who must pay $397.98 (Sh59,322), while users in Zambia and Malawi must pay $499 (Sh74,389) and $568.6 (Sh84,749), respectively.

The other expenses, including as the monthly subscription fees and the shipping costs, are paid for the same services by Kenyans for Sh6,500 and Sh3,100, respectively, throughout the six markets.

Because shipping and monthly subscription fees in the Bola Tinubu-led nation are Sh3,259 and Sh7,417, respectively, a user in Kenya would need to pay an upfront sum of at least Sh98,599 to buy the kit and complete the installation process, while a counterpart in Nigeria would only need to part with Sh69,113.

Tanzania, Comoros, Mauritius, Eswatini, and Sierra Leone are among the other nations on the continent that the owner of X (previously Twitter) has designated for the launch of the Internet service before the end of the current year.