ABUJA, Nigeria — A report from broadband intelligence firm Ookla don show say Starlink Internet performance for Sub-Saharan Africa dey vary, with Nigeria lagging behind plenty countries. Nigeria dey average 49.6 Mbps speed, while Botswana dey enjoy higher speed of 106.4 Mbps from the same satellite network.
A spokesperson from Ookla explain say the slow speed for Nigeria fit be due to network congestion, as him talk say, “Nigeria na Starlink’s biggest market for Africa, so e fit get more users connected to same satellite.”
As of Q3 2024, Starlink don become the second-largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) for Nigeria, with 65,564 customers. Meanwhile, countries like Eswatini and Rwanda dey record average speeds of 86.2 Mbps and 85.5 Mbps respectively.
Ookla report still show say countries with more satellites above dem dey generally enjoy better signal strength and speed. Despite Nigeria’s lower average speed, Starlink still dey outperform terrestrial ISPs across many African countries. For example, Starlink speed for Botswana dey reach 106.36 Mbps while local ISPs dey provide only 9.36 Mbps.
In a breakdown, even in Ghana and Rwanda, where local ISPs dey have higher median speeds, Starlink speed still dey outperform dem, clocking 75.1 Mbps in Ghana and 85.5 Mbps in Rwanda. Overall, Starlink still dey faster than ISPs for Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia by a factor of two to four.
Despite the high cost of Starlink service when compared to local ISPs, many Nigerians don show plenty interest to switch providers after Starlink enter the market for Nigeria in January 2023. As the economic landscape dey change, plenty people dey look towards tech solutions like Starlink to improve their internet access.
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