By 
By Ross Moyo
Exciting news for people using Starlink in Zimbabwe, South Africa and neighbouring countries after Star-link is set to launch in Mozambique a Ground station this month of March increasing SADC’s satellite broadband capacity and Reducing Latency.
Elon Musk’s game changer Starlink is expected to launch a ground station in Mozambique by the end of March, increasing the satellite broadband service’s capacity and reducing latency across the length and breathe of Southern African nations bloc termed SADC whose chairman is Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The SpaceX-operated Starlink requires ground stations to facilitate backhaul connectivity to Internet servers just like other satellite services.
The Inter-satellite laser communication is used to support connectivity in regions without ground stations.
Accordingly a satellite connected to a customer’s Starlink dish can send and receive data transmissions from and to other satellites within range of a ground station.
Later this capability allows Starlink to provide connectivity across vast areas without ground stations, including the ocean and deserted remote areas.
Nevertheless the additional time it takes to bounce data between multiple satellites increases latency.
It is then Starlink can provide latency between 20ms and 40ms if the user connects to a satellite close to a ground station.
Afterwards When inter-satellite links get involved, the latency is significantly increased.
Starlink clients in many Sub-Saharan African countries experienced latency in the triple digits.
That includes those using roaming subscriptions to access the service in South Africa, which Icasa technically considers illegal.
Speed tests in South Africa typically had between 200ms and 300ms latency when the sole ground station in Africa was in Nigeria.
The addition of a ground station in Nairobi, Kenya, in late January 2025 already reduced latency to less than 100ms in some cases.
According to the Starlink map, the service’s latency in Kenya has dropped to an average of 23ms to 29ms, while neighbouring South Sudan was getting average pings between 39ms and 57ms.
Given the third ground station’s proximity to South Africa, it will likely substantially improve the latency for roaming users.
Zambian Starlink kit supplier Stellar Systems recently shared photos of the ground station under construction in Matola, the largest suburb of Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.
The images show 16 radomes, weatherproof covers for radio antennas that can communicate with satellites in multiple directions simultaneously.
Starlink ground station under construction in Maputo, Mozambique. Credit: Stellar Systems
Starlink ground station under construction in Maputo, Mozambique showing Stellar Systems
Boosting capacity for new subscriptions.
The additional ground station could also boost capacity on the Starlink network in Sub-Saharan Africa, enabling the service to reopen sign-ups in broadband-limited cities with high demand.
In addition, Starlink plans to reopen new sign-ups for its regional roaming or Roam Unlimited subscription in the region.
That option was removed due to capacity constraints and abuse of the service in unsupported countries.
Starlink’s official availability date in South Africa has been unknown since late 2022, but roaming has functioned locally since early 2023.
Many South African businesses or organisations in remote areas — including farms, charities, schools, and game lodges — have been using the service despite Icasa’s warnings.
Some have described the service as a “game-changer,” as other broadband options are not reliable, fast enough, or too expensive.
Starlink’s official launch has been complicated by the Electronic Communications Act requiring that telecoms licensees have 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged persons.
Icasa has also gazetted a new regulation that will require 30% black-only ownership from licencees.
Although this new regulation is currently suspended, it could be implemented at a moment’s notice, with severe consequences for existing licensees.
Other international companies typically work with a local partner to ensure compliance with South Africa’s contentious race-based ownership laws.
Starlink has a direct-to-customer model for its residential services. By not working through middlemen, it can offer the best possible prices and control the customer relationship.
The service launched in two more countries on the continent in 2025 — Liberia and Niger — bringing its total supported African countries to 16.
Aside from Mozambique, three of South Africa’s neighbours have launched the service, and the remaining two — Namibia and Lesotho — have estimated launch dates in 2025.
While Starlink’s approval is in limbo in South Africa, Icasa’s type-approval list suggests that there were once plans to roll out ground stations in the country.
The list includes three Starlink Earth Gateways, all of which were type-approved in 2021.
In Zimbabwe it used to be the same story till President Mnangagwa’s licensing of Musks Company through Postal Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe Potraz.
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