Ghana licenses Starlink after cable catastrophe
March 22, 2024
By Chris Forrester
Ghana’s Ministry of Communications & Digitisation has decided to permit SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service to operate. The decision came a week after major disruption to four undersea high-volume broadband cables. The disruption caused considerable difficulties for banking, business and consumers throughout Ghana.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the country’s minister of communications, made the announcement. “We have licensed satellite gateway air stations, landing rights, and satellite air station networks,” she told parliament. “OneWeb has already been licensed. Starlink is in the process of being licensed and other operators are being encouraged to land in Ghana.”
Late last year and for the first couple of months this year Ghana has threatened users of unlicensed Starlink kit with penalties.
The Minister told parliament that her department was also having discussions about affordable back-haul satellite solutions with all satellite service providers under the auspices (support) of the International Telecom Union. “This conversation has been ongoing for a while, but I believe what has happened in the recent past will activate and energise these discussions for solutions to be reached soon,” she added.
The only other West African country where Starlink is officially active is Nigeria.