28/09/2024
I have seen the TelOne-Starlink announcement which TelOne posted today, and many Zimbabweans have ridiculed TelOne, turning it into the butt of today’s jokes.
However, the arrangement TelOne has entered into with Starlink is quite standard in many countries where Starlink operates from.
As I mentioned months ago in this platform, Starlink is not intended to be a competitor but rather a complement to local fibre internet services like Liquid and TelOne.
Fibre internet providers should generally be pleased with Starlink because it provides internet to remote rural areas where they can’t provide service, which, in turn, drives more traffic to cities where they are operating from.
Starlink does not have the capacity to provide internet services in the same way that fibre internet does in cities and densely populated areas.
Starlink's limited capacity, compared to fibre, is due to the nature of its technology and infrastructure.
It faces bandwidth constraints because it relies on a constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide connectivity.
Constellation refers to a group or network of satellites working together in a coordinated manner.
Specifically, for Starlink, it describes the large number of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that function as a system to provide widespread internet coverage across different regions of the Earth.
While LEO satellites offer low latency and high-speed connections, they have limited bandwidth compared to fibre optic cables, meaning Starlink's network can become congested more easily, especially in areas with high internet usage.
Each Starlink satellite covers a specific area on Earth, known as a "footprint."
So a beam covering 22 kilometres will provide internet to a few hundred people before it gets congested.
So, Starlink's LEO satellite beams can cover an area of approximately 22 kilometres in diameter, but the number of users that can be supported within that coverage area is limited.
This is due to the bandwidth constraints of the satellites and the fact that the available capacity must be shared among all users within the beam's footprint.
To ensure continuous coverage, a large number of satellites must be launched and maintained, which is complex and costly.
In contrast, fibre networks can be more easily expanded and upgraded to meet growing demand.
So, it is only in broken economies and countries like Zimbabwe that Starlink is seen as a competitor to fixed fibre networks like TelOne and Liquid due to Zimbabwe’s pricing models.
In normal countries, the major networks are actually making more money by selling Starlink kits, as TelOne intends to do, because they do not view it as a competitor.
By providing internet access to remote and underserved areas such as Murewa, Bocha, Nkayi, and similar rural outposts, Starlink will, in fact, drive more traffic to the networks of fixed fibre providers in urban areas, ultimately benefiting both parties.
It is unfortunate that the TelOne-Starlink announcement has been met with ridicule in Zimbabwe.
This response reflects the unique challenges faced by our country's economy and telecommunications infrastructure.
Internet is expensive in Zimbabwe not because of the networks, but due to a dysfunctional currency system, government taxes and licensing fees, which Econet and its subsidiary companies had to pay, while Starlink will not.
I will post a video for you to listen to where SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell discusses what I have explained above.
