Nigerians in the country’s three biggest cities, Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt, may no longer order Starlink terminals since the devices are ‘sold out’ in those places.
In Nigeria, Benin City in Edo State and Warri in Delta State are two more locations where Starlink has sold out. The availability map on the business’s website supports this.
When placing an order using any address from any of the five cities, a non-availability warning is also displayed.
“Enter your email below to be notified about future availability and product updates, or if Starlink is active in your market, visit our Roam page to order our mobile offering,” reads the response when attempting to order for a Lagos address.
Existing users are not impacted in any way when new sign-ups are suspended in certain areas.
The kits are still available for purchase by Nigerians outside of the sold-out regions of the nation.
Starlink In High Demand
Since the Space X-linked company’s official launch in Nigeria in January of last year, demand for Starlink services has skyrocketed in the country.
Less than two months after being granted authorisation by authorities to operate in the southern African country, the company’s terminals in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, are already sold out, indicating that the demand for Starlink is not limited to Nigeria, as THE NEWS CHRONICLES discovered.
The only two African countries where Starlink terminals have sold out are Nigeria and Zimbabwe, per a Bloomberg story.
This event coincides with an ongoing battle over price increases for oversubscriptions in Nigeria.
Following a reprimand from the nation’s telecom regulator for failing to obtain the necessary consent as mandated by law, Starlink stated on Friday that it was suspending an increase it had announced in late September.
On the last day of September, Starlink stated that the cost of its monthly subscription would increase by 97%, from N38,000 to N75,000.
Additionally, the corporation raised the Starlink hardware kits for new users by 34%, from N440,000 to N590,000.
Nigeria’s Increasing Adoption Of Starlink
When Starlink first announced its arrival in Nigeria in January 2023, it attracted a lot of attention from Nigerians who were keen to switch service providers, even though its prices were higher than those of local ISPs.
People in places with inadequate internet networks are also encouraged to choose Starlink due to the widespread availability of its satellite service.
In terms of the number of customers, Starlink is now among the top Internet service providers (ISPs) in Nigeria, according to data made public by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Starlink had 23,897 users as of Q4 2023, making it the third-largest ISP in Nigeria by customer count.
There are currently less users than that for several local ISPs that have been in business for a lot of years in Nigeria.
