The Federal Government has expressed optimism that the nation’s broadband service and internet access will receive a major boost as Elon Musk’s satellite company, Space X, will roll out Starlink internet service nationwide before the end of this year.
To realize this goal, the Federal Government has entered into a partnership with Space X on the project at the just concluded US-Space Forum held on the sidelines of the just-concluded US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington D-C, United States of America.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosed the potential kick off of the Starlink internet service roll out after meeting the management of the company at California after the meeting.
He assured: “The nationwide rollout shall take place before the end of 2022, after the conclusion of a few administrative processes.”
Pantami further clarified that the government had approved the company’s application as a High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) operator in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector.
According to him, as part of the partnership, Space X is to provide broadband access across the whole of Nigeria, enabling nationwide access to broadband connectivity way ahead of the December 2025 schedule, as outlined in our National Broadband Plan.
The minister said that “with this collaboration with SpaceX’s Starlink, Nigeria is set to be the 1st African country to introduce the service.”
It would be recalled that Starlink was issued Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) about seven months ago.
Space X had promised to roll out its satellite broadband service in Q3 2022 to cover all parts of the country but shifted it to the fourth quarter, citing regulatory issues as informing the postponement.
