In West Africa, telecoms authorities remain reluctant about the success of Starlink

The ambitions of American billionaire Elon Musk and his satellite internet service Starlink are not welcomed with the same enthusiasm throughout Africa.

Use of mobile phones in Africa (illustrative image). Mike Goldwater/Getty Images

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Thanks to its satellite fleet in low orbit, the provider Starlink aims to revolutionize access to

high-speed

internet

and plans to quickly expand into the African market. But, while Rwanda, Benin, Kenya and even Nigeria have already signed partnerships with

Elon Musk

's company , the telecommunications regulatory authorities of Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali are threatening to sanction users of this service, which currently escapes any regulation.

“ Illegal 

”

sale and use 

The press releases published in recent days by the Ivorian, Burkinabe and Malian telecommunications regulatory authorities carry essentially the same message: they denounce the importation, sale and “ 

illegal

 ” use of Starlink kits on their territory. Criminal proceedings may be brought against offenders, who risk heavy fines. Chadian and Nigerien regulators had already issued similar warnings.

According to a knowledgeable player in the sector in Niger, the deployment of Starlink kits in Benin and Nigeria has caused a certain enthusiasm on the other side of the border - despite the high price of this technology. Local resellers therefore began to import and sell these kits in Niger, outside of any legal framework.

Security issues?

But the authorities take a dim view of this phenomenon. In the absence of an agreement with Starlink, these connections escape any taxation and compete with approved players. The uncontrolled deployment of these connection kits would also pose security problems: in Mali, a note from the Council of Ministers notes that this technology can “

 promote the actions of armed terrorist groups

 ”.

Also read: Internet outage in Africa: repairing submarine cables, a complex and tedious task

However, the Malian authorities say they are ready to “ 

examine the feasibility of the legal use of this material with official interlocutors 

”. For his part, the Nigerien Minister of Telecommunications spoke with Starlink officials on the sidelines of a trip to Barcelona recently.

Three months after declaring the illegality of Starlink on its territory, Ghana has finally announced that it plans to sign an agreement with the internet service provider, in order to resolve the repeated malfunctions of the network on its territory.

Also read: High-speed Internet: the battle of satellite constellations rages

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