Kenya’s greatest telecommunications firm, Vodacom Group affiliate Safaricom, has urged regulators to contemplate requiring satellite tv for pc web suppliers comparable to Elon Musk’s Starlink to associate with native cellular community operators (MNOs).
Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, operates in a number of African nations however has confronted regulatory challenges registering in others. It launched in Kenya in July final yr.
The corporate has since rolled out more and more aggressive pricing choices and plans that enable Kenyans to lease the required {hardware} slightly than having to buy it for greater than US$350.
Safaricom, which is owned by the Kenyan authorities, Britain’s Vodafone and South Africa’s Vodacom wrote to the Communications Authority of Kenya’s director-general final month to specific issues in regards to the granting of impartial licences to satellite tv for pc web suppliers.
“Satellite tv for pc protection inherently spans a number of territorial borders and in doing so has the potential to illegally present providers and trigger dangerous interference inside the territorial borders of the Republic of Kenya,” the letter mentioned.
It known as on the Communications Authority to contemplate requiring satellite tv for pc suppliers to function as “infrastructure suppliers” to MNOs like Safaricom. It mentioned this may guarantee suppliers put money into Kenya, make use of native individuals and adjust to Kenya legal guidelines.
Starlink in Africa
The regulator’s director-general, David Mugonyi, and Starlink didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Starlink operates in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Benin, South Sudan, Eswatini and Sierra Leone. Earlier this yr, Cameroon ordered the seizure of Starlink tools at ports because the supplier was not licensed. — Aaron Ross, (c) 2024 Reuters
