On Thursday last week, Starlink experienced an international downtime which lasted for over two hours. During that time, some of the countries which are heavily reliant on the ISP such as Ukraine had a tough time considering that they are at war. Thus exposing the dangers of relying on international ISPs for critical services.
Starlink entered the Kenyan market in 2023 taking the country by storm due to its novelty. At the time it was so popular that by 2024 it was already the country’s 7th largest internet service provider (ISP) with over 19,000 active subscriptions.
Starlink is operated by operated by American aerospace company SpaceX and offers a satellite internet service that uses a constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The ISP entered into the Kenyan market via third party resellers and as such does not have a local presence in the country.
When the ISP entered into this market, there was a feeling by some of the established players that they were being given preferential treatment. This led to some of them to take up the issue with the Communication Authority. The reasoning behind this was that international operators should endeavor to work with local ISPs as opposed to being given a free hand in the market.
By working with the local ISPs, these international service providers would then be able to help them build capacity in terms of manpower and infrastructure. If this was implemented, it my belief that overtime it would drive resilience and service continuity in the Kenyan market leading to less disruptions. This is as opposed to the current situation where these international ISPs have been given a free hand to cannibalize the local market without adding value to the market.
The reason why Starlink was able to get such a considerable market share is because they were able to offer big discounts on their equipment. This was largely due to the fact that the parent company “Space X” is owned by Elon Musk one of the richest people in the world. As such not only can they offer ridiculous discounts but have largely benefitted from advertising in the global market something which the local ISPs cannot be able to match.
As Kenyans, we really need to take time and think about the ramifications of letting international ISPs run rampage in our market. Because, over time this will lead to under development of the local ISPs some of which are run by young tech savvy businessmen looking to make a living. Over time, the ISPs which started by serving a few people upcountry have grown to become big businesses that employ hundreds of employees.
Syokinet is a good example of an ISP which has grown from an outfit with just handful of employees to employing hundreds. Another success story is Mawingu who started out by offering services in the Mount Kenya regions but have since been able to attract funding which has enabled them to expand to different parts of the country. Unfortunately, such inspiring stories could soon be a thing of the past if measures are not taken to ensure that growth and development of local ISPs is not protected.
The other issue that I have with the international ISPs is that without a local office, they are not bound to the same rules that apply to local ISPs. In the case of Starlink, how is the CA supposed to tackle up the issue of service quality. In an instance where the service quality is not up to par, who are they supposed to contact? Their US office or the resellers?
All in all, in as much as we say that competition is good because it ultimately benefits the customer. There is need to think really hard about the effect of letting international businesses run roughshod on local ones which might not have the financial muscle to fight back against the onslaught. If these businesses are to be allowed to enter into our market, they should play by the same rules as the local ones to ensure a level playing field. With everyone getting an equal chance to grow and succeed.