Starlink's Satellite Internet is Cheaper than Leading ISPs in Five African Countries (restofworld.org) 84
"In at least five of the 16 African countries where the service is available, a monthly Starlink subscription is cheaper than the leading fixed internet service provider," reports Rest of World.
"Starlink, launched in 2019 by Elon Musk's SpaceX, has become the leading satellite internet provider in the world." Now available in more than 100 countries, Starlink can also be a relatively affordable option for users trying to log on in countries with limited internet service providers... A Rest of World analysis indicates that in at least five of the 16 African countries where the service is available, a monthly Starlink subscription is cheaper than the leading fixed internet service provider... [Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Cape Verde — though not including the upfront costs of Starlink hardware.]
Historically, internet connections around the globe have typically been enabled by ground-based internet service providers using fiber-optic cables and mobile base stations. But in many parts of the world, that infrastructure is sparse or nonexistent. "This is where satellite providers come in," said Nitinder Mohan, a computer science professor at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who has studied Starlink's performance around the world. "I can be in the middle of a forest and, if I have a direct view of the sky, I can get my internet connectivity," he told Rest of World. "Regions which are previously underconnected — where there was no way of getting internet connectivity to them — now with these satellites, you can actually enable that...." According to the latest figures by the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency focused on information and communication technologies, 38% of the population in Africa uses the internet, compared to 91% of Europe...
Since launching in Kenya in July 2023, Starlink has disrupted the existing internet service provider industry. Starlink offers high connectivity speeds and wide availability in remote areas, along with dramatically lower prices. The company also introduced a rental option... Starlink has become so popular in Kenya that the company paused new subscriptions in major cities in early November due to network overload. The company plans to deploy more infrastructure in Nairobi and Johannesburg in order to bring more people online, said Mohan, the computer science professor at Delft University.
Starlink is less than half the cost of the leading ISP in Kenya Ghana, and especially in Zimbabwe (where the difference is dramatic):
Starlink: $30
Leading ISP in Zimbabwe: $633.62
Now in Kenya legacy telecom providers like Safaricom "have responded by lowering prices and increasing internet speeds," according to the article. The head of the research wing of the Global Systems for Mobile Communications Association even told Rest of World ISPS are also developing their own satellite networks (like Vodacom's partnership with satellite mobile network AST SpaceMobile) — though ironically, AST SpaceMobile launched its first satellites with the help of SpaceX.
"Starlink, launched in 2019 by Elon Musk's SpaceX, has become the leading satellite internet provider in the world." Now available in more than 100 countries, Starlink can also be a relatively affordable option for users trying to log on in countries with limited internet service providers... A Rest of World analysis indicates that in at least five of the 16 African countries where the service is available, a monthly Starlink subscription is cheaper than the leading fixed internet service provider... [Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Cape Verde — though not including the upfront costs of Starlink hardware.]
Historically, internet connections around the globe have typically been enabled by ground-based internet service providers using fiber-optic cables and mobile base stations. But in many parts of the world, that infrastructure is sparse or nonexistent. "This is where satellite providers come in," said Nitinder Mohan, a computer science professor at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who has studied Starlink's performance around the world. "I can be in the middle of a forest and, if I have a direct view of the sky, I can get my internet connectivity," he told Rest of World. "Regions which are previously underconnected — where there was no way of getting internet connectivity to them — now with these satellites, you can actually enable that...." According to the latest figures by the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency focused on information and communication technologies, 38% of the population in Africa uses the internet, compared to 91% of Europe...
Since launching in Kenya in July 2023, Starlink has disrupted the existing internet service provider industry. Starlink offers high connectivity speeds and wide availability in remote areas, along with dramatically lower prices. The company also introduced a rental option... Starlink has become so popular in Kenya that the company paused new subscriptions in major cities in early November due to network overload. The company plans to deploy more infrastructure in Nairobi and Johannesburg in order to bring more people online, said Mohan, the computer science professor at Delft University.
Starlink is less than half the cost of the leading ISP in Kenya Ghana, and especially in Zimbabwe (where the difference is dramatic):
Starlink: $30
Leading ISP in Zimbabwe: $633.62
Now in Kenya legacy telecom providers like Safaricom "have responded by lowering prices and increasing internet speeds," according to the article. The head of the research wing of the Global Systems for Mobile Communications Association even told Rest of World ISPS are also developing their own satellite networks (like Vodacom's partnership with satellite mobile network AST SpaceMobile) — though ironically, AST SpaceMobile launched its first satellites with the help of SpaceX.
The only solution to this (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Starlink is heavily subsidized by the US government in the form of various multi-billion contracts to schpace yikes.
The goal is the same as always, undercut the competition, kill it, and then be a monopoly.
The second-oldest trade practice after outright robbery :)
Re:The only solution to this (Score:5, Informative)
Not at all. On those contracts, Starlink is massively undercutting the competition and saving the government billions. That's just facts, not an endorsement of you-know-who.
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And you think that will stay that way? As soon as the victims have become dependent, the prices will raise. Oldest trick in the book.
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https://www.wesh.com/article/b... [wesh.com]
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But, no, now that it has been done by private industry I don't think we'll backslide that far.
lol, good one!
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Well likely this will kill off any investment in ground based infrastructure, so they will be limited by the available radio spectrum.
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LOL, another tech bro who doesn't understand how subsidies work.
Re: The only solution to this (Score:1)
Starlink isn't being subsidized by anybody. Period. Arguably the opposite given the whole idea behind SpaceX running it is to raise funding for starship, and that's exactly what it's doing. The government isn't funding ANY of that, unlike ULA. The government itself already pays below market rate for falcon 9 launches. Yes, higher than private launches given the additional stipulations the government itself mandates, but still well below what SpaceX competitors charge, which is a pretty big deal considering
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Not at all. On those contracts, Starlink is massively undercutting the competition and saving the government billions. That's just facts, not an endorsement of you-know-who.
Both can be true. Undercutting the competition wins the contract, the contract can be a form of subsidy depending on how it's setup. The government can still subsidize a private corporation while saving money.
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Not at all. On those contracts, Starlink is massively undercutting the competition and saving the government billions. That's just facts, not an endorsement of you-know-who.
Whilst that is quite true, we're talking about Africa here, politicians and business are horrifically corrupt. I also am suspect of the prices, I strongly suspect they've fudged the numbers, specifically by omitting mobile telephony providers.
Kenya's Safaricom [safaricom.co.ke] offers data plans, 8 GB for 1000 Ksh (about US$7.80 at todays exchange rate) and 100 GB for 10,000 Ksh (US$78 for those at the back). Found this with 20 seconds of Googling.
Many African nations skipped the landline and went straight to mobile be
Is it a good idea (Score:2, Insightful)
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It is not. Obviously. Although that particular cretin has far less power than he thinks he has.
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Far-left sociopaths don't want money at all, that's the point of socialism/communism.
Re: Is it a good idea (Score:1)
Instead they just want to control the entire economy, full stop.
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Re:Is it a good idea (Score:5, Insightful)
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I thought that "good idea" in context is sarcastic enough near to "beautifully", but next time I'll put it in quotes just in case.
Sadly, you're right, the time has come for those who are drowning to save themselves, or drown.
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
A capitalist technologist has found a way to reduce the cost of internet access for impoverished Africans, dramatically increasing their ability to learn and develop independently.
Leftists on Slashdot would prefer that the impoverished Africans remain impoverished, dependent, and out of reach of the internet because they hate capitalism that much.
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Leftists on Slashdot would prefer that the impoverished Africans remain impoverished, dependent, and out of reach of the internet because they hate capitalism that much.
Take it from someone who actually cared about helping people:
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
Musk doesn't do either of those things.
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Oh, ffs.
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They are comparing to fixed line internet. What about cellular internet? That's probably cheaper. How common do you think computers are vs smartphones?
Rightists trying to paint themselves as the good guys is so funny. Like you care about African people, and not billionaires' next gigayacht that you think will somehow trickle down to you. Or maybe it's just your basic imperialism, having them become reliant on Elon Musk and the US for internet access.
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What about cellular internet? That's probably cheaper.
Not in Zimbabwe. You can buy 55GB of mobile data for $126 USD/month - apparently 10MB/s is a good speed for mobile data over there.
https://www.econet.co.zw/data-... [econet.co.zw]
https://www.reddit.com/r/Zimba... [reddit.com]
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Countries like Zimbabwe have a few factors going against them...
The equipment to build the network costs the same everywhere, but the number of potential customers is lower, and the average budget potential users have to spend on such things is MUCH lower.
Legacy IPv4 is in very short supply in zimbabwe - 6 legacy IPv4 addresses assigned to the country for every 1000 citizens. This means higher costs and worse service as they have to implement address sharing. IPv6 will solve this particular problem once its
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Some excellent points there. Given how incumbent telecoms companies behave in Western countries ... I suspect that monopolism, high prices and minimal investment in services are common practice for African telcos too.
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Apologies, that should have read 10Mb/s, so 8 times slower. On another tangent, it seems that
Starlink’s competitive rates have forced local providers to lower their prices.
https://restofworld.org/2024/s... [restofworld.org]
Re: Is it a good idea (Score:2)
They are comparing to fixed line internet. What about cellular internet? That's probably cheaper. How common do you think computers are vs smartphones?
Probably because it provides a lot more bandwidth and in a much wider area.
Have you ever taken a moment to ask yourself why you want to see technologies fail simply because they somehow don't align with your ideology? That's a big red flag that your ideology just might be incredibly fucking broken. Especially in light of the fact that you literally had not the foggiest idea what the word socialism even meant only two...TWO...weeks ago, despite spending your whole life talking about how great you think it is
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Why do you think I want the technology to fail? I literally just told you that the tech isn't the issue.
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A capitalist technologist has found a way to reduce the cost of internet access for impoverished Africans, dramatically increasing their ability to learn and develop independently.
Leftists on Slashdot would prefer that the impoverished Africans remain impoverished, dependent, and out of reach of the internet because they hate capitalism that much.
Even in poor countries mobile phone ownership (e.g. Internet access) is relatively high and far cheaper in USD terms than most western countries. TFA is not about access to Internet but rather more specifically access to fixed Internet.
Robbing "impoverished Africans" of the benefits of investing in local economy and infrastructure such as deploying fiber is a good way to keep Africa impoverished. Most of the actual work of fixed ISPs is people playing in the dirt and manning phones. Opportunities that ar
Nice example for a market failure (Score:2)
It does not only happen in countries that mistakenly think they are tech-leaders...
Re:Nice example for a market failure (Score:4, Insightful)
https://datareportal.com/repor... [datareportal.com]
Anybody think 32.6% of people in Zimbabwe are paying $633.62 per month for internet?
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I guess "internet service" doesn't mean the same thing or play the same role as here, because:
https://datareportal.com/repor... [datareportal.com]
Anybody think 32.6% of people in Zimbabwe are paying $633.62 per month for internet?
Not unless they're mixing USD and ZWL. If this site [paynow.co.zw] isn't hopelessly out of date, then it sounds like there are a decent number of "unlimited" plans for not a whole lot more than their $30 number, but with caps on video streaming resolution from major sites and other similar limitations. For Starlink speeds, probably more like $70 a month.
So maybe somebody moved the decimal point?
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I guess "internet service" doesn't mean the same thing or play the same role as here, because:
https://datareportal.com/repor... [datareportal.com]
Anybody think 32.6% of people in Zimbabwe are paying $633.62 per month for internet?
I suspect they deliberately omitted mobile phone services, A quick google reveals it's about US$12 a month for a basic phone service (4 GB)... which is definitely not cheap by western standards, let alone African ones but hardly the many hundreds touted by the article.
Is my sky different than Kenya's? (Score:2)
Residential Lite is KES4000, which is $55NZD
Same plan here is $79NZD
They also have a 50GB $18 plan that isn't available here.
Same service, same costs, different prices in different markets. Typical.
Even the % difference between the Residential Lite and Residential plans are skewed.
NZ is $79 and $159, about 2x the price
Kenya is 4000 and 6500, about 60% more
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Re:Is my sky different than Kenya's? (Score:5, Insightful)
The pricing is not based on cost or value provided. It is based on what they think they can squeeze out of you.
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In a perfect economic system GDP is maximised by pricing a product or service exactly as high as any individual is willing to pay. Unfortunately for that you need individualised perfect information, which neither party has, so you end up with at best regional pricing differences.
Africa is the only country (Score:1, Troll)
So everyone wants in on the action on the ground floor. As such they are willing to subsidize prices quite a bit.
Cheaper employees (Score:2)
It seems likely that the Kenya prices are extortionate given how cheap it would be to employ the people necessary to build and maintain the network there will be. Do you think Kenyans pay the same price for a haircut as you do?
There's an economic concept called 'Purchasing Power Parity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] that seeks to capture the experienced income of a country rather than that merely captured by converting the currency at market rates.
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The labor costs are in general a lot lower, but:
While there is no shortage of unskilled laborers, there is a severe shortage of skilled ones. Workers with marketable skills will demand higher salaries, or will often migrate to countries where they will receive higher salaries.
Basic costs for the equipment is the same, actual price may vary depending on taxes and import costs.
Legacy IPv4 costs are higher for new/growing providers vs the incumbent ones in the west that got allocations years ago.
Costs for CGNA
Great reply (Score:2)
Thank you.
They always get you with the cheap intro rates. (Score:3)
Here in my area of the US, a residential class Starlink subscription would cost $90. A compatible 1 gigabit symmetrical fiber connection would cost $59 a month, assuming that you can get one in your neighborhood. If not, you'll probably end up paying similar price to Starlink for slower non-symmetrical Comcast cable connection once you add all their insane taxes and fees.
I'd imagine that the less developed countries are getting a much cheaper Starlink intro rate than we do to bring in business. Then they'll raise their rates once they have a solid customer base, just like most ISP's would.
Re:They always get you with the cheap intro rates. (Score:4, Informative)
Starlink Residential, at my address (in the US), would be $120/month. Their stated expected speed for that plan is 150-250Mbps, although people report somewhat less than that (especially for uploads).
The monthly cost for my existing Comcast internet plan, 800Mbps down / 100Mbps up, just went up $3 to $99/month. FWIW what I see at speedtest.net is typically right around 700+ down and 120 up.
I'm glad Starlink exists, since it's likely the only reason Comcast's upload speeds have increased is competition - something they've managed to suppress for most of their existence. But between Comcast's increased upload speeds and Starlink's increased US prices, Starlink isn't exactly undercutting Comcast now.
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Wait a second. $30? (Score:5, Interesting)
Yikes. Only $30 a month for unlimited data? Meanwhile, in the U.S., their residential plans start at $120 a month, unless you include their "dribble of data" basic roaming plan where you can burn through all of your data allowance in just over an hour, and even that joke of a plan is $50.
I mean yes, I realize that cost-of-living-wise, $30 in Zimbabwe is the equivalent of about $400 in the U.S. after adjusting for average salary, but either it costs money to provide data or it doesn't, and if you can provide it at that price and still make a profit, then providing it at 4x that price is just gouging because you can, and if you're losing money at that price, you probably shouldn't be doing it.
Their pricing doesn't make a lot of sense. They charge peanuts in a few countries where almost nobody has Internet service, I guess because they'd love to end up cornering the market, or maybe because the satellites would go completely unused at that point in their orbit, and they might as well make at least a little bit of money from them. So that part at least kind of makes sense.
But everywhere else (U.S., Europe, etc.), their rates are about 2x to 3x the national average. They aren't at all competitive unless you live where the alternative is no service at all. If they're going to charge rates that would make even most extortionate monopoly cable company ISPs blush, it makes me wonder why they're even bothering at all. I just really don't get it.
If they don't cut their prices, they're going to be stuck with only users who live in the middle of nowhere, and over time, you can expect the number of homes without access to fiber to decrease, so that's not a very sound business strategy on even a ten-year horizon, much less in the longer term.
I thought maybe it was because they were still setting up the network and didn't want to overload it too quickly, but they're almost two-thirds of the way to their 12k satellite target at this point. Seems like a good time to start reducing prices to be competitive in the broader market before LEO satellite competition (e.g. Project Kuiper) comes later this year and gives them a good swift kick in the a**. Just saying.
Makes sense to me (Score:1)
I mean yes, I realize that cost-of-living-wise, $30 in Zimbabwe is the equivalent of about $400 in the U.S. after adjusting for average salary, but either it costs money to provide data or it doesn't,
What you are not thinking about, is that probably a user in Zimbabwe is not using nearly so much data per month as a US user.
MY mother uses Starlink for example (vastly better than any other solution she can get in her rural area), and even she has something like four devices that all use the internet, update f
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But everywhere else (U.S., Europe, etc.), their rates are about 2x to 3x the national average. They aren't at all competitive unless you live where the alternative is no service at all.
That's their use case, and people are willing to pay. They're probably using a good portion of their bandwidth too (in the US and EU -- maybe not in Zimbabwe).
Re:Wait a second. $30? (Score:5, Interesting)
Their pricing doesn't make a lot of sense.
Their pricing makes perfect sense. Economics 101 says that GDP is maximised by pricing any product or service at the highest limit of what each individual is willing to pay. No one (thankfully) has enough information to individualise pricing like this, but there is enough generalised information available to make it regional.
Launching a satellite is a sunk cost. The ongoing fixed costs of offering Starlink are minimal. So while they may not be able to, invest, offer a service, and make a profit if their customers only pay $30, the fact that some other customers pay $120 helps cover the initial investment, making the $30 customers profitable as well.
So why not offer it for less? Because they aren't a charity and because they have established their customers in the USA are willing to pay $120.
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Starlink has limited bandwidth available in each location...
If they made it cheap they would get more users, who would saturate the available spectrum and drag the service to a crawl. It makes sense so increase the prices in any given area to a level which will keep the number of users to a manageable level.
What a terrible conundrum (Score:2, Insightful)
Imagine if the only decent access to the internet you could afford required you to give money to a raging Nazi.
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Short Sighted Cheaper (Score:2)
2) I've been wondering what everybody is paying for in many different countries. I still don't have the answer, just the general idea that it's way too much, especially in the USA. In France, prices have been rising a bit in the last 10 or 15 years. I used to pay 30€/month for a copper/ADSL, around 25 Mbps/s. Now, it's 40€/m
Down to Earth (Score:2)
Meanwhile, it's Comcast's prices that are out of this world. Starlink appears to be more down to Earth. Strange reality reversal.
Surprised they haven't banned it (Score:2)
I am surprised some of these countries (especially those where the government either owns or heavily benefits from the incumbent ISPs) haven't just outlawed Starlink.
Not to mention... (Score:2)
..that in Senegal, where the full internet is switched off each year for the high-school exams, to prevent cheating, it will ruin their anti-cheating program and allow the companies to continue to do business during that time. :-)
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"But on the bright side you will be able to tell who the cheaters are because they have a backpack with a big square antenna sticking out of it."
Hardly, they'll have a friend with a van outside and a directional antenna pointed at the exam room, like we did it analogically in the 70ies. :-)
At least 6... (Score:2)
In Italy... (Score:2)
Client states (Score:2)
Walmart strategy (Score:2)
Cheaper for now. Eliminate the competition then monopolize.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED (Score:2)
You're telling me that satellite based internet is cheaper than countries with poor infrastructure? Who could've guess that one. (roll eyes)