Using Starlink’s roaming service as a permanent Internet connection has been a challenge for South African users. According to Starlink support agency officials, South African users will only be able to access the roaming service once the kit has been used in the country of registration for several months. Conversations in local Starlink community groups also state that the kit must be used in the country of registration for several hours every two months to be reset for roaming service.
SpaceX satellite service has not officially launched in South Africa, but some locals are accessing the roaming service using kits purchased in other African countries such as Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Starlink experienced an outage this morning, affecting 41,393 users.
Starlink’s roaming service terms of use state that subscriptions are not intended for use in permanent residences or areas that do not have official government approval.
It also stipulates that roaming services can only be used for a maximum of 60 days, after which users must connect their kit to a service in their home country or the country of registration. This was put into place to prevent customers in wealthy countries from abusing cheap roaming plans.
Starlink took action against those who violated the rules, more than a year after roaming was introduced in early 2023. This affected South African users who were banned from the service. In August 2024, SpaceX issued another warning threatening a 60-day ban for anyone who violates the rules.
Starlink sales suspended – possible block for South African users
After the Starlink threat, South African subscribers access Starlink every two months in their country of registration. They migrate their account to the nearest or preferred neighboring country and travel there to “call home” and reset the service. Several users were able to access roaming services using this method.
At the end of October 2024, service provider SpaceX stopped selling roaming plans in all African countries. Some members of Facebook’s South African community noticed that the company removed African countries from the roaming subscription options on Friday, October 25, 2024.
A quick look at the website shows that African countries where the satellite internet company has officially announced its presence, such as Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Kenya, are conspicuously missing from the list of locations where potential users can place orders.
