Starlink shutdown warning in South Africa – MyBroadband

SpaceX has sent a second warning threatening to cut off users accessing its Starlink Internet service through roaming for extended periods of time, including South Africa.

Several Starlink roaming users in South Africa have received emails stating they will be cut off starting next week.

The warning said users who have been using the service outside of the country where the kit is registered for more than two months will be disconnected from Wednesday, 21 August 2024.

“The ‘Mobile — Regional’ plans are intended for temporary travel and transit, not for permanent use in a location,” Starlink said.

The company instructed those who were accessing the service in a different country to either change their account’s country or return to the country where the kit is registered.

The company previously sent a similar email to Starlink roaming users in South Africa on 16 April 2024, warning that they would be cut off on 30 April 2024 unless they accessed the service from their registered country every two months.

While many speculated that the action was due to the US government’s intensified scrutiny over the alleged use of Starlink by Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, the emails seemed to only be sent to users in African countries.

Although Starlink did not follow through on a cutoff in South Africa, it switched off regular roaming services in neighbouring countries Botswana and Namibia.

In those two countries, Starlink currently has estimated launch dates, according to its official coverage map.

It is possible that it has intervened in those countries as it is currently getting approval to launch there.

Several users have discovered a workaround to get the kits back online in Botswana and Namibia, which was to activate the “Mobile — Priority” feature.

This provides data at higher speeds for an additional fee.

New satellite regulations proposed

South Africa’s launch date for Starlink has been “Unknown” since September 2022, and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) deems the operation of the Starlink roaming service without approval to be illegal.

However, several thousand users have ignored the regulator’s warnings because Starlink offers fast and uncapped connectivity in areas where other services are unavailable or perform poorly.

Starlink’s latest letter comes shortly after Icasa published a consultation paper proposing a new licencing framework for satellite services.

Icasa’s inquiry aims to determine a regulatory and licensing framework for satellite services in South Africa and the procedures it could implement for their provisioning.

The main objectives of the inquiry are as follows:

• Develop a transparent and streamlined regulatory framework with clear rules to establish regulatory certainty for potential satellite operators in South Africa;
• Outline the procedures for the provision of satellite services in South Africa;
• Develop procedures for authorising user terminals, IoT terminals, and earth station user terminals communicating with space stations while in motion;
• Review spectrum fees, taking also into account the increasing amount of bandwidth used by satellite systems operating in higher frequency bands;
• Develop a procedure for registration of international satellite operators (including details of ITU coordination status of the space segment) who intend to provide a service either directly or indirectly (through existing licensed operators) to South African consumers.

Although Starlink has not officially confirmed the reasons for not launching South Africa, industry insiders are convinced it is due to uncertainty around Icasa’s proposed black ownership requirements for Internet service providers.

The Electronic Communications Act already requires that companies with national network infrastructure and service licences be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.

In March 2021, Icasa published new regulations that would change this requirement to 30% black ownership.

This regulation has been suspended until an undetermined future date, leaving South Africa’s broadband industry stuck in limbo.

Sceptics might argue that the proposed new requirements outlined by Icasa in its consultation paper could introduce even more complexity in securing approval for satellite services.

Even if it achieves the opposite and simplifies approval, it typically takes multiple years after an inquiry is launched before regulations are implemented.