E54K STARLINK KIT FOR ESWATINI BUSINESS USERS

MBABANE – The high-end hardware Starlink cost for business users is E54 000 for Eswatini.

This is according to pricing information from the entity’s website, which stipulates the direct import costs breakdown in various African countries. SpaceX has rolled out Starlink in Eswatini making it the eighth African country to get official access to the popular satellite Internet technology. This is confirmed by the official Starlink availability map, which now reflects the entirety of Eswatini as officially covered by Starlink. Notably, this is the first time Starlink has been available at rand pricing, and this could indicate how much the service would cost, when it eventually launches in South Africa. The aim of Starlink is to provide high-speed internet service to regions where the traditional internet infrastructure is deficient or absent.

Prices

In Eswatini, the residential service costs E950 per month, with a further E120 per month “regulatory fee”. For regional roaming, the cost increases to E1 250 per month, while global roaming is E3 800 per month, with both prices excluding the E120 regulatory fee. A residential-grade dish kit is E12 000 and shipping and handling will cost a further once-off E450.
For business users, the high-end hardware is E54 625 (with an additional shipping and handling charge of E1 000), and the priority connectivity pricing begins at E2 185 per month for 1TB of priority traffic. The launch in Eswatini follows Starlink’s entry into Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, and Benin in 2023.

According to Starlink’s coverage map, it is also scheduled to go live in Angola, before the end of the year. Furthermore, all of South Africa’s neighbours where Starlink has not officially launched yet, have estimated rollout dates sometime in 2024. This includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. South Africa’s ETA remains unknown.

Requirements

Industry sources have told MyBroadband that onerous regulatory requirements caused SpaceX to de-prioritise Starlink’s launch in South Africa. One of the issues for Starlink is that acquiring the necessary licences, would require its local operation to be 30 per cent owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDG). “While Starlink could simply create a local subsidiary or partner with an existing company to meet these criteria, SpaceX prioritises countries that make regulatory approval easier,” reads information from MyBroadband. Information sourced from MyBroadband South Africa, despite technically operating in South Africa illegally, at least 12 000 households and businesses use Starlink. “This is thanks to its regional roaming service, allowing it to be used anywhere on the continent. South African customers, then either import the kits or use ISPs that offer to import or manage the service on their behalf,” reads the sourced information.  The table above compares the prices of Starlink’s residential equipment, shipping fees in the eight African countries, where it is officially available, and the monthly fee with regional roaming.

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