Kenya’s High Demand For Starlink Leads to Suspension of New Subscriptions

Starlink New Subscriptions Suspension: Satellite internet service provider, Starlink, has suspended new subscriptions to its service in parts of Kenya. 

These include the capital, Nairobi and six other counties. 

Starlink New Subscriptions Suspension

According to the company, the reason for the suspension was due to a network overload as too many users were trying to access the service and there wasn’t enough space.

Nairobi and neighbouring areas are currently at network capacity. 

This means that too many users are trying to access the Starlink service within Nairobi, and there isn’t enough bandwidth to support additional residential or roaming customers now,” Starlink said.

“Starlink is working to restore service in the disrupted areas and a notification will be sent once the residential plan is back.”

The company also explained that the overload was mainly a result of its affordable internet plans being sold out. Therefore, only those plans that cost above Ksh130,000 per month were still available.

Due to the Starlink New Subscriptions Suspension, customers in Nairobi and other affected counties raised concerns about the company failing to provide roaming service plans through which they could bypass the restrictions affecting the regions. 

Also Read: Starlink Adds 97% Increase to Subscription Fees in Nigeria

Starlink’s Impressive Growth Across Africa

Since its launch in Kenya in July 2023, the number of Starlink users has grown more than tenfold, driven by promotions on kits and cheaper monthly plans. 

For instance, in August, the company introduced a $15.15 (KES1,950) monthly kit rental plan for users who can’t afford to buy the hardware, which costs $350 (KES 45,000).

Starlink’s growth in Africa has been impressive. This is seen in the fourth quarter industry statistics report by Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA), subscribers grew by a really impressive 1,955.3%. 

This astounding growth is attributed to Starlink with satellite data subscriptions growing fast after its licensing and launch back in July 2023.

“Satellite subscriptions maintained an upward trend following the launch of Starlink services during the year, with 96.9 per cent of satellite customers subscribed to speeds between 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps,” the Kenyan Communications Authority said in its report.

Following its impressive growth, Starlink now controls 0.5 per cent of the fixed data subscriptions market share in Kenya.

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