Elon Musk's Starlink forced to go on hold by officials in Zimbabwe

Starlink is apparently gaining traction in the 16-million-strong African nation of Zimbabwe, and the national Postal/Telecommunications authority is not happy about it. Recently, the body issued an official request to Starlink to block Internet access for Zimbabwe citizens on the grounds of said access being illegal in the country. The company will most likely have to comply with that order, and it has already sent e-mails to many of its Zimbabwe-based users notifying them that their Internet connection's about to stop functioning. Pretty much the same thing is happening in Botswana and South Africa.

According to TechCentral, Starlink kits are currently sold for as much as $1,200 in Zimbabwe. The kits are imported illegally, which is something the national authorities decided to take issue with. Satellite Internet is much harder to control than wired and cellular Internet when it comes to anti-terrorist operations and other dangerous situations; and it is likely these governments would prefer more control over Internet access in such a scenario. With technology such as Starlink, getting a magic control switch like that could be tricky.

It is not currently known how much time the authorities of Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa could take to give Starlink the green light to do business in these respective countries. Starlink owners requiring a long replacement cable can find a 150-ft one on Amazon from $143.99 at the moment.