Buhari excited about Starlink, says Nigeria’s broadband penetration now 100%

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday announced that Nigeria’s broadband penetration is now 100 per cent following the deployment of Starlink services in the country.

In a statement posted on his official twitter page, the president expressed his excitement about the deployment of Starlink services in Nigeria.

He further explained that the development has made Nigeria the first African country and the only one so far to enjoy the service rollout.

“We are delighted that Starlink services have been deployed in Nigeria,” the president said. “With this deployment of Starlink, we now have 100 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria.”

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, SpaceX, on Monday announced that it had commenced the operation of Starlink services in Nigeria, making Africa’s most populous country the first to receive such service across the continent.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX launched in 2019. It provides satellite internet access coverage to about 46 countries while also targeting the global mobile phone service after 2023.

It was founded by Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and the microblogging site Twitter, with the aim of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonisation of Mars.

Although Starlink’s internet services have been said to be accessible from any part of the country, bridging the existing internet connectivity gap across rural communities in Nigeria where other network operators could not deploy their services, analysts say that the high cost of Starlink services may not encourage many Nigerians to access it.

Access

Earlier on Tuesday, the Gigabit Libraries Network and the National Library of Nigeria signed an agreement to ensure that five public libraries gain free access to Starlink’s LEO satellite broadband system.

In a statement published on the GLN website, the network noted that the five libraries selected would be the first set of libraries to have such connection on the African continent.

Although the Network did not list out the libraries to benefit from the internet connectivity, the statement hinted that the project pilot phase will kickstart in Lagos and Abuja.

“The Gigabit Libraries Network, today announced an agreement with the Nigeria National Library to outfit five public libraries as users of SpaceX/Starlink’s LEO satellite broadband system. These are the first libraries to have such a connection on the continent, “ the group said.

Working in partnership with the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions to initiate a set of five pilot projects in Abuja and Lagos, the GLN noted that the library sites will be part of a wider study on capabilities and potential benefits of this innovative and potentially revolutionary communications capability that can reach almost anywhere on the planet.

“In many African communities, the library is the only place to access free and/or cheap Internet. Getting libraries connected to fast, stable and affordable Internet, can be the only link between young people and opportunities; between learning new skills and making the mark for better employment prospects and between access to information that can debunk rumours and falsehoods,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the implementation of LEO technology appears to be yielding faster connection speeds with lower latency than traditional geostationary satellite based services, though with outstanding questions of capacity over time as more users participate.

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Commenting on the development, GLN Director, Don Means, said, “There are many things to learn about how these new systems can serve towards closing the persistent global digital divide as well as integrate into the wider telecom ecosystem.”