Starlink, the satellite internet provider founded by Elon Musk, is planning to shake up the competition for established Safaricom and Airtel in Kenya with its new, cheaper data plan. The new 50GB monthly data package from Starlink is offered at Sh1,300, significantly undercutting a similar Airtel pack that is currently on sale at Sh3,000.
The price at which Safaricom sells its 45GB monthly package is Sh2,500. Still, subscribers have to make a one-off investment of Sh45,500 in installation hardware, unlike in the case of local telcos where users only activate a registered SIM card to get online.
According to its website, Starlink will charge entry prices of Sh1,300 a month for 50GB of data, then Sh20 per GB for extra volume. It accepts payments through mobile money providers M-Pesa and Airtel Money.
This aggressive pricing is as it guns to capture the data segment long dominated by Safaricom and Airtel. According to Communications Authority of Kenya, Safaricom currently commands 63.7 percent market share of mobile broadband subscriptions, followed by Airtel with 31.5 per cent. Other providers are Telkom Kenya with 1.8 percent; Finserve, Equitel with 1.5 percent and Jamii Telecommunications also with 1.5 percent.
Starlink launched satellite internet last July at prices rival to other fixed internet service providers.