Elon Musk announces Starlink gets FG’s approval to operate in Nigeria

World richest man, Elon Musk on Friday, revealed that after months of negotiation his company, Starlink has been approved to operate in Nigeria by the Federal government.

Musk’s Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 32 countries where its use has been licensed.

It is expected that Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe. Within each coverage area, orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Elon Musk’s company will now challenge already established MTN, Airtel, 9mobile and the other registered Internet Service Providers.

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) confirmed to Nairametrics that it has licensed Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 32 countries. This licensing followed a visit to Nigeria by the company’s team in May last year.

Starlink will operate under the Internet Service Provider (ISP) category and will be trading as Starlink Internet Services.

According to NCC, the license, which takes effect from May 2022 is to last for ten years, after which it may be renewed. 

Starlink promises to bring high speeds and latency as low as 20 minutes in most locations, Starlink enables video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high data rate activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet.

Users also have the option to take Starlink with them via the Portability feature.