Elon Musk’s Starlink is set to charge Nigerians a whopping $600, about N440,000 at the prevailing parallel exchange rate of N740 – N745 to $1, to acquire the hardware.
In addition, the subscription to Starlink’s service in Nigeria will cost $43 (~N32,000) per month. The company has disclosed that Nigerians can pre-order the $600 setup hardware as it prepares to launch this year.
Expectations were rife last year following a statement by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosing that SpaceX would begin the roll-out of Starlink before the end of 2022. However, the expected roll-out did not manifest.
At the time, he said:
Expectations were rife last year following a statement by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosing that SpaceX would begin the roll-out of Starlink before the end of 2022. However, the expected roll-out did not manifest.
At the time, he said:
“As part of the partnership, Space X is to provide broadband access across the whole of Nigeria, enabling nationwide access to broadband connectivity way ahead of the December 2025 schedule, as outlined in our National Broadband Plan.
However, the company has cited “pending regulatory approval” for the delays.
Although Prof Isa Pantami explained last year that some administrative problems were delaying the planned launch of Starlink. The Minister revealed via his Twitter account two days before the end of the previous year that Starlink had begun installing infrastructure in Nigeria. He stated:
“They have now commenced the deployment of their facilities in Nigeria. Nigeria is the first African country to reach that partnership & also approval for the deployment.”
