Elon Musk's Starlink Plans to Debut in Nigeria, to Compete with MTN, Airtel, Glo
- The Nigerian Communications Commission met with Elon Musk's company, Starlink, as it plans to establish in Nigeria
- Starlink is a company under SpaceX, a space transportations services company, and it's offering broadband
- The company will be competing with network providers like MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom and 9mobile
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The founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, is set to establish his company, Starlink, in Nigeria; a move that will pit it against network providers like MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile.
Starlink is under SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer, which is also owned by Musk. The billionaire wants to bring satellite-led broadband into Nigeria, and his SpaceX team has met with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The meeting involved Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, who was represented by Ubale Maska, the executive commissioner of NCC.
Both parties met to discuss the plan Starlink has for the market in Africa's largest economy, and the company is pursuing the necessary licenses to set up its base in Nigeria.
In a statement released by NCC, it was stated that:
"SpaceX is in the process of launching a low-earth orbiting (LOE) constellation of satellites to provide low latency, high bandwidths Internet to all corners of the globe and has identified Nigeria as a critical market.
"SpaceX has been in discussion with NCC virtually over the past several months to begin the process of pursuing all necessary licenses to bring Starlink, its satellite-based broadband services to Nigeria."
Source: UGC
Presently, the biggest internet service providers are GSM-led in the name of MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel Nigeria and 9mobile. With the financial power that Starlink through SpaceX, analyses have shown a potential clash.
Starlink establishment in Nigeria is expected to crash data cost and improve service, both of which have constantly been complained of by telecoms subscribers.
The best network service in Nigeria is costly within the country, so is the telcos with poor quality service - this has left subscribers with no choice but to settle.
Briefly News also reported Billionaire Elon Musk has said his multi-billion-dollar company, Tesla, will no longer be accepting payments in Bitcoin. This amid growing concerns that mining of the popular cryptocurrency may have detrimental effects on the environment.
Taking to his personal Twitter account, Musk expressed concerns over the increased use of fossil fuel to mine Bitcoin. The stock fell by thousands of dollars just minutes after Musk posted his tweet.
Musk did however make it clear that he had no intention of selling off any Bitcoin already owned, instead saving the currency for a time when the coin might transition to a more environmentally-friendly form of mining.
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Source: Briefly News
