Starlink goes official in Botswana and Zimbabwe
The first quarter of 2024 saw something of a crackdown on Starlink satellite Internet use by the governments of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as we reported in April. Preventing people from using Starlink kits smuggled from neighboring countries became a big deal, spurring cases such as that of Neville Mutsvangwa, the son of two high-profile politicians who was taken to court for owning and operating one, among other charges. (That story is still developing.)
Two of the three nations have now reached an agreement with SpaceX to allow the company to do business legally on their soil. Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi has had a meeting with Starlink executives during his visit to the US from late April to early May; shortly afterwards, he asked the government to process SpaceX's license application within two weeks. In turn, Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa announced late last week that a company named IMC Communications would start selling Starlink kits in the country soon.
According to SpaceX's Availability map, Starlink is set to become fully operational in both Botswana and Zimbabwe in "Q3 2024". Strangely enough, there is no such news for South Africa and Lesotho whereas in Eswatini and Mozambique, Starlink is already officially available and in Namibia it's set to become available later in 2024. All of these countries are located in Southern Africa and share at least one border with the state of South Africa, for reference.
Those tired of having to look at the standard black Starlink cable can find a fancy blue replacement one (75 ft, Gen 3) on Amazon for $129 at the moment.
