A new dawn is here. Elon Musk’s satellite internet service provider, Starlink, has unveiled an internet kit rental option in Kenya. Starlink, the satellite arm of the American billionaire’s SpaceX, made the announcement earlier this week.
The rental kit will pay clients a one-off activation fee of Ksh 2,700. A monthly hardware rental fee of Ksh.1,950 is expected while the internet bouquet plans start at Ksh.1,300 monthly.
Starlink’s Competitive Offers
Since making its way in the Kenyan market, Starlink has given competitors a run for their money. Their internet packages have supersonic speeds and lower prices. The rental option is so efficient giving up to 200Mbps, with no buffer or downtimes.
Affordable and Available
When it first came to Kenya, the Starlink kit was parting for Ksh.74,000. Many customers were put off by the outrageous initial cost. After many complaints, the price dipped to Kshs 39, 000 and also became locally available at retail chain stores like Carrefour. The kit can now also be ordered online on markets like Jumia.
Earlier this year, the company decided to reduce the hardware costs to attract an even bigger clientele. In July, it dropped the deal to a further Ksh.29,000.
The local market is currently ruled by Safaricom and Airtel but Starlink is already standing up to be counted. Rolling out cheaper service plans to take on local internet providers, is what Elon Musk and company are targeting.
A case in point, Starlink unveiled a 50 GB monthly data plan in July, worth Ksh.1,300. That is Kshs 1, 700 cheaper compared to Airtel’s Ksh. 3,000 shillings for a similar package. Safaricom’s 45GB monthly plan is Ksh. 2,500, which is 1,200 shillings more expensive than Starlink for almost a similar amount of data.
Starlink subscribers in numbers
Though there are less than 5,000 users, this is a great leap as it only registered about 408 customers in its first week. It has the best reviews so far in such a short span. Its reputation coincidentally picked up during month-long anti-finance bill protests.
Many social media users suspected that the government colluded with a local broadband internet provider, to scuttle the protests by suppressing communication among the protestors.
Thousands of businesses also suffered interruptions when the undersea cables to Africa were damaged. The breakdowns would take a couple of days to be reinstated costing customers millions i irredeemable losses.
With the new low-cost option, Starlink aims to bring high-speed internet to even more individuals, businesses, and communities across Kenya and East Africa. This includes remote areas which have been marginalized for a long time. The American satellite-based internet service is a disruptor already. It is providing greater access to information, entertainment, education, and economic opportunities, at the cheapest prices, across the country and beyond.
