It seems that two factions within South Africa’s administration are at each other’s throats. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi’s outburst on April 24th that his patience with regulator ICASA has run out is a clear demonstration that all is not well with South Africa’s supervisors. The spat is understood to refer to the request from SpaceX […]

ICASA, South Africa’s Communications regulator, is working on a new licensing framework for satellite Internet operators, and specifically mentioned Elon Musk’s SpaceX. “The goal is to create a transparent, efficient, and sustainable regulatory environment that fosters investment, competition, and the expansion of satellite services,” ICASA said in a statement. In its annual performance plan for […]

Elon Musk, despite being born and raised in South Africa, is still stymied in the country as far as his Starlink broadband service is concerned. SpaceX first applied for permission many years ago. Indeed, it was considered such a routine move that Starlink kit was being imported into the nation and some 5,000 users registered […]

SpaceX’s Starlink grew 85 per cent in connectivity in Brazil end ended 2025 on 606,200 customers according to data from the country’s media regulator Anatel. The progress sees Starlink as the 13th-largest operator in Brazil, and while this is still way behind market leaders Claro (10.62 million subscribers) and Vivo (8.01 million). However, the progress […]

Pay-TV subscribers in South Africa have fallen 9.6 per cent in the year to September 2025 according to data from regulator Icasa. The fall, to well below 7 million, is the lowest for five years. The number of subscribers, says Icasa, was 6.7 million (7.4 million in the previous year) and which in 2021 stood […]

Canal+ is making some major changes to its new MultiChoice/DStv acquisition for African subscribers. Having recently announced it is closing its Showmax streaming service (“an expensive failure” said the company) and an intention to help boost cost savings overall by some €250 million this year alone, C+ is now targeting other cost centres, not least […]

South Africa’s DStv subscribers will not face an annual price increase, marking a significant strategic shift under new owner Canal+. In an interview with local press, newly appointed MultiChoice Group CEO David Mignot confirmed that the company will not raise DStv prices in April, breaking with a longstanding tradition of annual increases that had become […]

SpaceX’s Starlink direct-to-home broadband system has 524,863 users in Spain, ahead of longstanding operators such as Adamo and PTV. But in South Africa, Starlink has hit a roadblock. The Spanish data comes from APNIC statistics reported by Spanish web-site Banda Ancha, and converts into Spain’s sixth-largest ISP. Starlink does not release country-specific numbers but Spain’s […]

Canal+, which now controls South Africa-based pay-TV operator MultiChoice, has reportedly committed to trimming around Rand 7.5 billion (€400m) in its annual costs over the next few years. MultiChoice’s expenses budget topped Rand 46 billion in 2025 but recent renegotiated content supply deals will already have started to trim those fees. MultiChoice spent Rand 20.4 […]

South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC says it has no funds to adequately cover an upcoming local government election. The state’s Treasury has turned down a request from SABC for 120 million Rand (€6.2m) for dedicated funding. SABC is appealing to South African parliament’s Communications Committee to intervene. “Without funding, the SABC does not have the […]