Will Starlink bridge Zimbabwe’s digital divide or widen it further?
While city dwellers rush to Starlink, rural Zimbabwe is stuck in the slow lane.
Starlink’s white, pizza-box terminals have become a familiar sight in Zimbabwe’s largest cities, strapped onto taxis or perched atop office buildings in Harare and Bulawayo. Since launching in September 2024, the satellite internet service has activated over 30,000 terminals across the country, according to telecom regulator POTRAZ.
For urban users desperate for stable, high-speed connections, Starlink is filling a void that local internet service providers (ISPs) have struggled to plug. But step outside the city limits, and the promise of fast satellite internet fades quickly into the distance.
That’s because, despite the buzz, Starlink isn’t cheap. A standard kit costs $350, with monthly subscriptions starting at $30, both paid in U.S. dollars. In rural Zimbabwe, where over 60% of the population lives and 76% of households fall below the poverty line, Starlink remains out of reach for most.
Kelechi Edeh
This urban-rural divide is exactly where local ISPs like CABS and Liquid Telecom were expected to step up, extending affordable internet beyond major cities. But they’ve been bogged down by patchy infrastructure, rollout costs, and regulatory delays. Starlink, meanwhile, got approval to offer direct-to-consumer services months earlier than local players, giving it a crucial head start.
That's resulted in some ISPs quietly using Starlink’s own network as backhaul to extend their footprint, while others are still seeking licenses or struggling with rollout costs. Regulators say they’re reviewing frameworks for non-terrestrial networks, but so far, policy hasn’t kept up with technology.
Across Africa, Starlink’s arrival has stirred similar tensions. In Kenya, it cracked the top ten within six months, even as regulators hiked licensing fees by 900% to rein in growth. In Nigeria, Starlink became the country’s second-largest ISP in just two years — growing 174% to 65,564 subscribers by the end of 2024 — yet most rural users still can’t afford it.
The pattern is clear: Starlink is expanding fast, but high costs and patchy policy risk deepening the digital divide rather than closing it.
In Zimbabwe, the question isn’t just whether local ISPs can catch up; it’s whether the country can avoid a future where only those who can pay for Starlink get fast, stable connections, while everyone else is left waiting.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
