12 November 2024

Starlink is working to enhance internet capacity in Africa’s densely populated urban areas as soon as possible, according to founder Elon Musk.

Starlink has temporarily banned new sign-ups in numerous African cities due to high demand for its service. The company reported that the suspension is due to an overload in network capacity caused by increased demand.

“Nairobi and neighbouring areas are currently at network capacity. This means that too many users are trying to access the Starlink service within Nairobi, and there isn’t enough bandwidth to support additional residential or roaming customers now,” said Starlink in a statement. “Starlink is working to restore service in the disrupted areas and a notification will be sent once the residential plan is back.”

The affected areas include Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Narok, Murang’a, and Nakuru. Since joining the Kenyan market, Starlink has become the country’s tenth largest internet service provider. According to the most recent data from the Communication Authority of Kenya, the service has over 8,000 customers nationally, and that figure is growing.