Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider, Starlink, has introduced a new, more affordable data plan in Kenya, challenging the dominance of Safaricom and Airtel in the market.
Starlink is now offering a 50-gigabyte (GB) monthly data package for Ksh1,300 ($10.16), which is less than half the price of Airtel’s equivalent package, priced at Ksh3,000 ($23.44).
Safaricom, the market leader, offers a 45GB monthly package for Ksh2,500 ($19.53). However, Starlink subscribers will need to invest Ksh45,500 ($355.47) in installation hardware to access the service, a significant contrast to the local telcos' approach, where users simply activate a registered SIM card.
"Affordable, high-speed internet with 50GB of data included for Ksh1,300/month (opt-in for additional data at Ksh20/GB),” reads a notification on Starlink’s website, adding that users can now make payments through mobile money options like M-Pesa and Airtel Money.
This new Starlink package is expected to intensify competition in Kenya’s data market. According to the latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Safaricom holds a 63.7 percent share of the mobile broadband market, followed by Airtel with 31.5 percent.
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