The uptake of satellite Internet in Kenya grew 64 percent in the first three months of this year, new data shows, buoyed by the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink into the market and signalling heightened competition for local vendors.
Data by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that satellite internet subscriptions hit 4,808 in March, up from 2,933 in December—marking an enrolment of 1,875 new users or an equivalent of 63.92 percent growth.
This follows the entry of Starlink, a satellite Internet service provider associated with American businessman Musk, which, despite its high prices, seems to be disrupting the Kenyan market and eating into the market previously dominated by cable and dial-up Internet vendors.
Currently, Starlink requires buyers to part with at least Sh89,000 to procure the initial hardware kit, and a minimum of Sh14,000 in monthly subscription fees, which is much higher than the prices charged by local fixed Internet service providers.
In April, the company announced a 50 percent discount on installation fees for Kenyan customers, which could further boost the uptake of the products in the country.
The CA has not published sector statistics for the April–June quarter.
The growth in satellite Internet uptake in Kenya seems to be driven by commercial users, most of whom redistribute it or use it for corporate needs, as most users are buying higher speeds than other fixed Internet and broadband technologies.
Unlike cable, fixed wireless, and fibre Internet, the most widely used in Kenya, satellite Internet subscribers mostly use speeds of between 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) and one gigabyte per second (Gbps).
The latest CA data shows that of all the satellite Internet subscriptions, 4,505, or 94 percent, are using speeds between 100Mbps and 1Gbps, reflecting that the majority may be redistributing or using for corporate needs.
Most fibre Internet users, for instance, subscribe to speeds between 2 Mbps and 10 Mbps, meaning they are final or retail users.
Due to the rise of satellite Internet uptake, several local service providers have lost their market share as users shift to the new technology, which experts say offers a more stable and reliable Internet connection.
The largest losers were Jamii Telecommunications, Wananchi Group (Zuku), Mawingu, and Liquid Technologies, which lost their market share by 1.1, 0.8, 0.2, and 0.1 percentage points, respectively.
Safaricom and Poa Internet, however, increased their market share by 0.7 and 0.2 percent respectively. Smaller ISPs, where the satellite service providers are categorised, increased their market share by 0.4 percent, after gaining about 7,081 new subscriptions in just three months.
