Starlink Launches in Zambia

After a near 2-month hiatus, Starlink is now back into expansion mode with its launch in Zambia. 🇿🇲

Starlink is currently available in 63 countries across the globe. In 2023 alone, it has expanded into 18 countries, 5 of them being in Africa.

Most recently, Starlink was introduced in The Bahamas, Malawi, Malaysia, Kenya, Guatemala, and many others.

In the interim, Starlink also managed to grow to over 2 million customers and got rid of the waitlist requirements for its Residential tier in the US.

If Starlink gets back into market expansion mode, especially with launches in India or Indonesia being imminent, it wouldn't be surprising to see them breeze past 3 million customers in a matter of months.

Meanwhile, the Residential package, Starlink's most commonly adopted plan, is priced at ZMW 771 (~ USD 36.23) per month.

Hardware will cost customers another ZMW 10,744 (~ USD 504.28) for the Standard rectangular antenna, which might soon be replaced by the new and likely more potent Gen3 version.

The USD 36 / months subscription charge makes Zambia one, if not the cheapest option among all the markets Starlink operates in.

Feel free to check out all the different prices that Starlink charges by visiting our global price list.

That said, it does take around 2 to 3 weeks to receive your hardware - at least according to Starlink's order checkout page.

Zambia, with a GDP per capita of around USD 1,176, is one of the poorer countries in the region. That said, a population of almost 21 million should represent a somewhat attractive opportunity.

Starlink's launch may certainly unlock new opportunities for locals and businesses alike. Zambia currently ranks 150th worldwide in fixed broadband performance (at about a 12 Mbps average).

New customers of Residential can easily expect 100 Mbps, even with Africa's limited availability of ground stations. And with its newest space lasers, speeds will likely improve further.

Going forward, I would expect various partnerships with local government bodies. In Rwanda, for example, Starlink equipped 50 local schools with its technology.

Expect similar announcements, to drive up demand and government funding, across Zambia and other African nations very soon.