By Favour Unukaso
ELON Musk satellite firm, Starlink, a player in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has announced hike in its subscription fees in the country, effective January 27, 2025.The firm made the announcement in a public notice on Friday.
This new development is coming about two and half months after it was suspended by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for unilaterarilly increasing its subscriptions fees in Nigeria without formal approval from the regulator.
But in a new notice, Starlink informed that its standard subscription prices will from January 27, 2025 increased to N75, 000.
Earlier, the firm had raised its standard subscription prices by 97.37 per cent to N75, 000, blaming high inflation. The hike was faulted by the NCC, which forced the ISP to revert to status quo, then.
However, Starlink in the new public notice, said: “These changes reflect our commitment to investing in the infrastructure needed to support and improve your experience with Starlink,” the Internet provider said.
“Under the new pricing structure, the lowest subscription tier (standard) will now cost N75, 000 from N38, 000. Mobile global roaming service will now cost N717, 000 monthly, and mobile regional roaming will cost N167, 000.
“The new prices will take effect from January 27, 2025, for existing customers, but will take effect immediately for new customers.
“If you do not wish to continue your service, you can cancel at any time.”
Earlier in November, the firm had explained that the new hike was also expected to help the company resume delivering its kits across the country after pausing orders.
“We’re committed to providing high-speed Internet in Nigeria and are working closely with regulators to make adjustments that will improve the customer experience. Until these changes are approved, we are placing new residential orders on hold,” the company said in November.
This development from Starlink appears to be a pointer to possible approval for tariff hike by telecoms operators in the country.
Already, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, had said that there may actually be a need for the hike so as to be able to sustain the sector going forward.
As such, a new tariff hike regime, 11 years after last one is expected to come on stream early 2025.