Niger’s ruling military junta has struck a deal with US billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink to expand coverage in the poorly connected country, state media said on Wednesday.
The vast desert nation’s internet penetration rate currently stands at 32 percent, according to the Electronic Communications Regulation and Mail Authority (ARCEP).
Starlink will bring broadband coverage to 80 to 100 percent of the territory, Nigerien communication and digital economy minister Sidi Mohamed Raliou said on state television.
Starlink’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites can provide internet access to remote locations or areas that normal communications infrastructure do not reach.
“Niger will benefit from this cutting-edge, high-speed technology at a very low cost,” Raliou said on television channel Tele Sahel, without detailing the content of the deal.
The announcement came just two weeks after Liberia issued Starlink a one-year provisional licence to begin operating in November.
Mali’s junta a day prior had also lifted a ban on the import and sale of Starlink satellite internet kits for a period of six months, after prohibiting them over fears they could be used by armed groups.
ARCEP had outlawed the sale of Starlink kits, which consist of a router, a receiving antenna and power supply, following the July 2023 coup in Niger.
Telephone communication networks and online access in conflict-ridden neighbours Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are frequently sabotaged by various militias affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. (AFP).
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