Kenya's Safaricom urges new requirements for satellite providers like Starlink

By Aaron Ross

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's biggest telecoms company Safaricom has urged regulators to consider requiring satellite internet providers such as Elon Musk's Starlink to partner with local mobile network operators.

Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, operates in several African countries but has faced regulatory challenges registering in others. It launched in Kenya in July last year.

The company has since rolled out increasingly competitive pricing options and plans that allow Kenyans to rent the required hardware rather than having to purchase it for more than $350.

Safaricom, which is owned by the Kenyan government, Britain's Vodafone and South Africa's Vodacom wrote to the Communications Authority of Kenya's director-general last month to express concerns about the granting of independent licenses to satellite internet providers.

The letter was shared with Reuters by Safaricom after part of it began to circulate on social media.

"Satellite coverage inherently spans multiple territorial borders and in doing so has the potential to illegally provide services and cause harmful interference within the territorial borders of the Republic of Kenya," the letter said.

It called on the Communications Authority to consider requiring satellite providers to operate as "infrastructure providers" to mobile network operators like Safaricom. It said this would ensure providers invest in Kenya, employ local people and comply with Kenya laws.

The CA's director-general, David Mugonyi, and Starlink did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Starlink operates in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Benin, South Sudan, Eswatini and Sierra Leone. Earlier this year, Cameroon ordered the seizure of Starlink equipment at ports as the provider was not licensed.

(Reporting by Aaron Ross; editing by David Evans)