Starlink is now cheaper than leading internet provider in some African countries

Starlink, launched in 2019 by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has become the leading satellite internet provider in the world. Now available in more than 100 countries, Starlink can also be a relatively affordable option for users trying to log on in countries with limited internet service providers. Across Africa, for example, Starlink is sometimes the cheapest way to get online. 

A Rest of World analysis indicates that in at least five of the 16 African countries where the service is available, a monthly Starlink subscription is cheaper than the leading fixed internet service provider. That subscription cost does not include the upfront cost of Starlink hardware, which ranges in price and availability from $178 for a Starlink Mini in Kenya to $381 for a Standard Actuated kit in Nigeria.

Rest of World determined the leading fixed internet service providers through reports published by each country’s communications authority, and obtained the cheapest prices from each company’s website. Prices have been converted to U.S. dollars to make comparisons.

Starlink does not have fixed rates; instead it intermittently raises and lowers its prices. On its website, it notes, “Starlink may adjust prices over time to reflect market conditions resulting in a decrease or increase of the monthly service plan cost.” SpaceX did not respond to Rest of World’s request for comment. 

To conduct this analysis, Rest of World compared the price of Starlink’s residential service to the cheapest unlimited fixed internet plan offered by leading internet service providers on January 9, 2025.

Historically, internet connections around the globe have typically been enabled by ground-based internet service providers using fiber-optic cables and mobile base stations. But in many parts of the world, that infrastructure is sparse or nonexistent. “This is where satellite providers come in,” said Nitinder Mohan, a computer science professor at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who has studied Starlink’s performance around the world.

“I can be in the middle of a forest and, if I have a direct view of the sky, I can get my internet connectivity,” he told Rest of World. “Regions which are previously underconnected — where there was no way of getting internet connectivity to them — now with these satellites, you can actually enable that.” 

Satellite internet’s reach makes it an important tool for getting more people online in areas that are internet-poor. 

Rest of World identified at least five countries in Africa where Starlink is cheaper than the average price of internet service: Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Cape Verde. According to the latest figures by the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency focused on information and communication technologies, 38% of the population in Africa uses the internet, compared to 91% of Europe. 

Starlink prices range widely, from $10 in Kenya to $50 in Eswatini. For most countries in Africa, the cheapest available Starlink plan costs between $28 and $34 per month.

Since launching in Kenya in July 2023, Starlink has disrupted the existing internet service provider industry. Starlink offers high connectivity speeds and wide availability in remote areas, along with dramatically lower prices. The company also introduced a rental option. 

According to the latest figures published by the Communications Authority of Kenya, as of June 2024, just over 8,000 Kenyans subscribe to Starlink, making it the tenth most popular service provider in the country. While legacy telecom providers like Safaricom and Jamii maintain control of the market — with 546,000 and 360,000 subscribers, respectively — TechCabal, an Africa-focused tech publication, noted that Kenya’s adoption of Starlink has been swift and continues to rise rapidly.

Safaricom and other legacy providers have responded by lowering prices and increasing internet speeds. Tim Hatt, head of research and consulting at GSMA Intelligence, the research wing of the Global Systems for Mobile Communications Association, told Rest of World internet service providers are also developing their own satellite networks. Safaricom’s parent company, Vodacom, for example, recently announced a partnership with satellite mobile network AST SpaceMobile to provide satellite internet in Europe and Africa. AST SpaceMobile launched its first satellites with the help of SpaceX.

Starlink has become so popular in Kenya that the company paused new subscriptions.

In rural Kenya, where Safaricom services are either too expensive or unreliable, Starlink is becoming a choice internet provider for households, Abel Boreto, an investor based in Nairobi, told Rest of World. Boreto became tired of using unreliable internet from Safaricom when he visited his hometown, and switched to Starlink in August. He said installing Starlink has saved him money and time.

“Safaricom was quite on the high side and the internet wasn’t even reliable so I decided to try out Starlink, which is more affordable ($10 per month for 50GB) to subscribe and use in the long term,” Boreto said. “It’s very fast and allows me to also share the internet with my parents and relatives when I’m not there.”

Starlink has become so popular in Kenya that the company paused new subscriptions in major cities in early November due to network overload. The company plans to deploy more infrastructure in Nairobi and Johannesburg in order to bring more people online, said Mohan, the computer science professor at Delft University.

For Mohan, the global Starlink boom raises monopolization concerns. A single dominant player not only leaves customers vulnerable to price hikes and decreasing quality of service but also gives a single company the power to control internet access for an entire country. Kenyan telecoms have also raised concerns about Starlink taking market share away from local companies that employ thousands of people on the African continent.