According to the number of subscribers, Elon Musk’s internet company Starlink became Nigeria’s third biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023. This was shown by the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) most recent ISP data.
In Q4 2024, the firm became one of Nigeria’s top ISPs, with 23,897 active clients. Starlink has 11,207 customers in Q3 2023, based on NCC. Quarterly consumers rose 113% in Q4.
Read also: NCC stops issuance of operational licences to telecom providers
Unveiling the Success Story of Nigeria’s Oldest ISPs
With 113,869 active users, Spectranet, one of Nigeria’s oldest ISPs, led the market. With 27,000 active users in 2023, FiberOne was second.
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NCC’s database showed 245 Nigerian ISPs in 2023. As of Q4 2023, just 106 ISPs had active clients, according to newly revealed data.
According to NCC, the 106 ISPs had 262,206 active consumers throughout the evaluation period. However, the percentage is still modest compared to internet consumers of the four mobile network companies.
Four mobile companies—MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—had 163.8 million active internet subscribers as of December 2023.
According to the NCC’s database, seven more ISPs have been licenced so far this year, taking the overall number of licenced ISPs to 252.
Exploring Starlink’s success in Nigeria
Starlink, which announced its arrival in Nigeria in January 2023, sparked much interest among Nigerians eager to switch service providers, even though it charged more than local ISPs.
Customers who live in areas with poor internet connectivity are also inclined to use Starlink’s omnipresent satellite service. Starlink has far fewer subscribers than many Nigerian Internet service providers (ISPs) that have been around for a long time.
Read also: Ghana approves Starlink’s application for broadband service
To entice customers in Nigeria, Starlink reduced the price of its router by forty-five per cent last month. The Starlink internet router, priced at N800,000, was dropped to N440,000 in April of 2024.
This does not change that the monthly internet subscription is still N38,000. Even though the corporation did not formally announce its debut in Nigeria until January of the previous year, Nigerians had already placed pre-orders for Starlink devices since 2022.
When the firm made its public declaration, it changed its currency to naira. Initially, it stated that the hardware cost $600 and the membership cost $43, but these figures were later changed.