Hanno Labuschagne | March 17, 2025
Starlink is set to launch ground stations in Mozambique by the end of March, which will increase the capacity of its satellite broadband service and reduce latency in South Africa.
Like other satellite services, SpaceX-operated StarLink requires a ground station to facilitate backhaul connections to Internet servers.
Intersatellite laser communications are used to support connectivity in areas without ground stations.
Satellites connected to a customer's StarLink dish can send and receive data transmissions from other satellites within the range of the ground station.
This feature allows StarLink to provide connectivity across vast areas with no ground stations, such as the ocean and abandoned remote areas.
However, the additional time it takes to bounce data across multiple satellites increases the delay.
StarLink can provide a delay between 20ms and 40ms when users connect to satellites near ground stations.
The involvement of intersatellite links increases the delay significantly.
Customers from many sub-Saharan African countries have experienced triple-digit delays.
This includes those who use their Roaming subscription to access services in South Africa. This is what ICASA considers technically illegal.
When Africa's only ground station was in Nigeria, speed tests in South Africa were usually incubated between 200m and 300ms.
The addition of ground stations to Nairobi, Kenya in late January 2025 reduced the potential to less than 100ms in some cases.
According to StarLink maps, service latency in Kenya dropped from an average of 23ms to 29ms, while adjacent South Sudan got an average Ping of 39ms to 57ms.
Given the proximity of the third ground station to South Africa, it could significantly improve latency for roaming users.
Zambian Starlink Kit Supplier Stellar Systems recently shared a photo of a ground station under construction in Matra, the largest outskirts of Mozambique's capital, Maputo.
The image shows 16 radomes with weatherproof covers for radio antennas that can communicate with satellites in multiple directions simultaneously.
Improved capacity for new subscriptions
Additional ground stations can also increase the capacity of StarLink networks in sub-Saharan Africa, allowing services to resume sign-ups in high-demand broadband-restricted cities.
Additionally, Starlink plans to resume new sign-ups for regional roams or Roam Unlimited subscriptions.
That option was removed due to constraints and abuse of the capacity of services in unsupported countries.
The official availability of Starlink in South Africa has not been known since late 2022, but roaming has been working locally since early 2023.
Many South African businesses and organizations in remote areas, including farms, charities, schools and game lodges, use the services despite ICASA warnings.
Other broadband options are not reliable, fast enough, or too expensive, which describes the service as a “game changer.”
The official launch of Starlink is complicated by the Electronic Communications Act, requiring communications licensees to have 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged individuals.
ICASA has also left the Gazette with new regulations requiring only 30% of Black ownership from the license.
The new regulations are currently suspended, but could be implemented soon if they have serious consequences for existing licensees.
Other international companies typically work with local partners to ensure compliance with South Africa's controversial racial-based ownership laws.
Starlink has a direct customer model for housing services. By not working through a broker, you can provide the best possible price and control customer relationships.
The service was launched in 2025 in two more countries on the continent (Liberia and Niger).
Apart from Mozambique, three South African neighbors have launched services, with the remaining two (Namibia and Lesotho) estimated their launch dates in 2025.
While Starlink approvals are in Limbo in South Africa, Icasa's type approval list suggests that there were plans to deploy national ground stations in the past.
The list includes three StarLink Earth Gateways, all of which were type approved in 2021.
“Disclaimer – the views and opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Bee Room.”
