By 
Minister of ICT, Postal, and Courier Services Tatenda Mavetera has revealed that the Elon Musk owned Starlink Network part of SpaceX is yet to pay application fees as required by Zimbabwe’s telecommunications laws.
Mavetera said government was however prepared to allow Starlink to operate in the country provided they have met obligations on their part which abide by Zimbabwean law.
“Zimbabwe is open for business. We heartily welcome all technology that seeks to increase efficiency, increase coverage, and reduce costs for our people,” said the Minister.
“It must, however, be noted that we are open for business to those who are willing to abide by our laws and regulations. Starlink has not yet paid any application fees as required by our telecommunications laws.”
The country’s telecommunications sector has long been plagued by network challenges; frequent outages, slow speeds, and unreliable connections that frustrated consumers and businesses alike.
Such challenges have mostly been felt in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, where access to reliable internet remains a major challenge.
Elon Musk’s Starlink has recently made headlines of launching in Zimbabwe and other Southern African nations by next year according to Musk and his SpaceX communication.
Mavetera’s comments mean Government has indicated it would welcome Starlink to operate in the country, a move which industry experts say would significantly lower data and communications costs.
Promises of fast, uncapped cheaper, reliable, and stable internet access, are now a reality with Starlink’s potential to stabilise a market long plagued by poor connectivity, reliability coupled with high costs, and this will leave local players scrambling to catch up and facing an uncertain future.
Starlink already operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Malawi having also launched in neighbouring Zambia last month.
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