ELON MUSK’S STARLINK TO LAUNCH IN KENYA BY Q2 2023

Elon Musk’s satellite internet firm, Starlink, has announced plans to launch in Kenya in the second quarter of this year. This move marks the company’s expansion into the African market and is part of Starlink’s mission to provide internet access to remote and underserved areas around the world.

The company’s entry into Kenya will be faced with stiff competition from some players in the business. Safaricom, the leading internet service provider in Kenya, and billions of shillings have been spent over the past five years on building its fixed-data network to connect homes, amid growth for online streaming services like Netflix.

Starlink, an offshoot of Mr Musk’s space technology firm SpaceX, on the other hand, delivers internet from satellites. The company uses satellites to provide broadband internet across the globe, much like the global positioning system (GPS) provides location data to cell phones around the planet.

“Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency service is made possible via the world’s largest constellation of highly advanced satellites operating in a low orbit around the Earth,” the company says on its website.

The firm will be targeting corporate customers to buy high internet speed internet. At the end of last year, Starlink said that its American customers on its fixed internet plans could expect speeds of between 20 to 100 megabits per second (Mbps), while for business customers, the realistic expectation numbers double to 40-220 Mbps.

The plan to establish in Kenya comes at a time when the demand for high internet speed for streaming, video calls, and online gaming is on the rise due to digitization and expensive data charges. With the launch of Starlink in Kenya, customers can expect a reliable and affordable internet service that will help bridge the digital divide in the country.