President Cyril Ramaphosa met with the controversial billionaire Elon Musk in New York this week, as South Africa eagerly anticipates the launch of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa met with the controversial billionaire Elon Musk in New York this week, as South Africa eagerly anticipates the launch of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.
Ramaphosa was in the US to lead a South African delegation to the 79th Session of the United Nations General Debate.
According to the SABC, the president said that the meeting with the South African-born tech entrepreneur was positive.
“We had a productive meeting,” Ramaphosa remarked, to which Musk concurred, calling it an “absolutely good meeting”.
Starlink is available in Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia and many South Africans have been racking their brains as to why the innovative technology has not been available in Musk’s home country.
SpaceX’s Starlink, founded by Musk, offers global internet access through its extensive network of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, covering more than 60 countries.
Earlier this month, Ramaphosa said that he had had discussions with Musk around Starlink and encouraged Musk to invest in his home country.
“I have had discussions with him and have said, ‘Elon, you’ve become so successful and you’re investing in a variety of countries, I want you to come home and invest here,” Ramaphosa said.
MTN TAKES THE FIRST STEP
In December, internet service provider MTN said that it was in discussions with Musk’s Starlink as part of a plan to increase its network coverage.
According to MTN group chief technology and information officer Mazen Mroué, the company’s approach to increasing network coverage relies on two complementary LEO-based solutions.
“To complement our terrestrial network, where the terrain can be difficult for radio sites and backhaul transport and sparse population distribution often makes regular cellular roll-out uneconomical, we are now exploring the skies. Specifically, we are partnering for LEO satellite connectivity to connect the unconnected, extend mobile connectivity to more rural and remote areas and improve resilience,” Mroué noted.
“In this way, we are working to achieve our goal of 95% broadband population coverage across our footprint by 2025, from 88% in 2022. And in the longer term, we are determined to achieve universal access,” he added.
PRICING
Those who have been accessing Starlink in SA through outside internet service providers (ISPs) have been paying around R1,299 since December 2023.
Mozambique-based StarSat Africa noted that its price was R1,799 but has since been dropped, according to Mybroadband.
A Starlink kit will cost you R14,999, with a deposit of R1,999.
IcasaSePush, another ISP that offers Starlink, also reduced its monthly fee from R1,499 to between R880 and R1,000.
