As a result of an apparent standoff over licensing rules in South Africa, Zimbabwe is set to get Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet before South Africa.
Zimbabwe’s Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Potraz, is likely to approve an application by SpaceX to launch Starlink services in Zimbabwe.
If so, Zimbabwe will join a growing number of African countries that have approved Starlink for use in their territories. Those countries include Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Mozambique.
South Africa’s communications regulator, Icasa, has previously said it is not at fault for the delays in licensing Starlink.
In April, Icasa told TechCentral that it had met twice with SpaceX officials over the possible launch of the satellite internet service locally. It said, however, that it had not received a formal licence application from the company. A spokeswoman for the regulator said on Thursday that this ‘status quo remains’.
Earlier this year, Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard lambasted the ANC government for allegedly blocking the satellite service in South Africa, a charge communications minister Mondli Gungubele vehemently denied.
‘It is therefore not true that government is blocking the operation of Starlink in South Africa. Any interested party wishing to apply for a licence, including Starlink, may through appropriate channels, approach the authority with its application and comply with the prevailing legislation in the country’, Gungubele said.
The ‘prevailing legislation’ referred to is the Electronic Communication Act, which requires licensees to have a minimum 30% equity ownership held by persons from historically disadvantaged groups, namely, black people, women, youth and people with disabilities.
This may be the requirement that SpaceX – and Musk – baulked at, though the company hasn’t formally said anything about its plans in South Africa.