It is here: “Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile operator, has reportedly upgraded the speed of its fiber internet packages in a competitive move to counter Starlink’s growing influence in the Kenyan broadband market.”
In a formal letter addressed to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), Safaricom urged the regulator to consider requiring satellite providers to partner with local mobile network operators. Safaricom’s concerns are centered on the potential risks of satellite coverage extending across multiple borders, which could lead to unauthorized service provision within Kenya. The company warned that such practices could result in “harmful interference” with local telecommunications services.
Good People, Elon Musk’s Starlink has started a major disintermediation in the African telecom sector. CDMA took down wired telephony and the cobwebs, GSM annihilated CDMA, and now, satellite-based broadband is at the early phase of distorting GSM-based broadband services. Can you fight space from the land?
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I posit that in ten years, most of the current GSM operators would be financially wounded as they do not have the operational framework to overcome the inherent competitive advantages which satellite operators like Starlink have. We are just at the infancy phase until affordable sat-phones arrive at scale.
When sat-phones arrive, and brands like Apple and Samsung provide support on iPhone and Galaxy, respectively, a new era will begin.
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