SpaceX’s Starlink has officially launched commercial satellite internet services in Seychelles, extending its footprint to 28 African countries in a move that signals the company’s strategy is evolving beyond connecting underserved communities to competing in more mature broadband markets.
- Starlink has launched commercial satellite internet services in Seychelles, expanding its footprint to 28 African countries.
- Unlike its previous African markets, Seychelles already has one of the continent’s highest internet penetration rates and affordable broadband.
- The launch signals Starlink’s shift from bridging connectivity gaps to competing in established broadband markets.
- It also comes as competition from Amazon’s Project Kuiper and other satellite internet providers gathers pace across Africa.
The satellite internet service became operational on July 18, according to Seychelles Vice President Sebastien Pillay, months after the government granted Starlink an Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence in February.
The approval allows the company to offer broadband services across the Indian Ocean archipelago’s 115 islands.
Unlike many of Starlink’s African launches, however, Seychelles is already among the continent’s most digitally connected countries.
According to DataReportal, about 87.4% of the country’s population was using the internet by the end of 2025, supported by widespread mobile broadband and fibre-based internet services.
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The International Telecommunication Union also ranks Seychelles among Africa’s most affordable mobile internet markets, with a 5GB data plan costing just 1.43% of gross national income per capita.
That means Starlink is entering a market where the challenge is less about bringing people online for the first time and more about improving connectivity quality, reliability and coverage.
Its low-Earth orbit satellite network could prove valuable for remote islands, tourism operators, maritime businesses, schools and enterprises that need reliable internet beyond existing terrestrial infrastructure.
Starlink’s African strategy is changing
Seychelles also reflects a broader shift in Starlink’s expansion strategy across Africa.
When the company entered Nigeria in early 2023, its first African market, it largely targeted underserved communities struggling with slow or unreliable broadband.
Within two years, Starlink had become one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing internet service providers, forcing traditional operators to respond with network upgrades and more competitive broadband offerings.
Kenya has followed a similar path. Starlink quickly gained subscribers seeking faster internet, particularly outside major cities.
Demand became so strong that the company temporarily suspended new residential subscriptions in parts of Nairobi and neighbouring counties while expanding network capacity.
More recently, Starlink has expanded into countries including Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo as governments seek to improve digital connectivity and support growing digital economies.
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Seychelles, however, represents a different opportunity.
Rather than filling a major connectivity gap, Starlink is positioning itself as an additional broadband provider in a country that already enjoys relatively high internet access.
The company is expected to compete on network resilience, speed and coverage rather than basic availability.
Regulatory hurdles remain
Starlink’s expansion across Africa has not been without setbacks.
South Africa, Elon Musk’s birth country and one of Africa’s largest telecommunications markets, remains one of the company’s biggest missed opportunities.
Starlink has yet to secure approval because of local ownership requirements under South Africa’s telecom licensing framework, creating a prolonged regulatory standoff.
The delay has allowed competitors to position themselves in the market. Amazon’s Project Kuiper recently announced plans to enter South Africa through a partnership with local broadband provider Herotel, marking one of the first significant competitive moves against Starlink on the continent.
The company has also faced regulatory challenges in markets such as Namibia, where licensing requirements delayed commercial operations even as neighbouring countries accelerated approvals.
Competition is heating up
Starlink’s arrival also introduces another competitor into Seychelles’ broadband market.
Operators such as Airtel already provide home broadband, enterprise fibre connectivity and dedicated internet services.
Starlink will need to differentiate itself through nationwide satellite coverage, particularly for customers spread across the country’s widely dispersed islands.
The launch also comes as competition in low-Earth orbit satellite internet intensifies globally.
Besides Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper is beginning international deployments, while Eutelsat OneWeb continues targeting governments, businesses and enterprise customers with satellite connectivity solutions.
For African governments, growing competition among satellite operators could improve broadband access and create more choices for consumers.
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But it also raises new regulatory questions around spectrum management, licensing and the growing role of foreign-owned satellite infrastructure in national communications networks.
For Starlink, Seychelles may be one of its smallest African markets by population. Yet its expansion into one of the continent’s best-connected countries suggests the company’s ambitions are no longer limited to bridging Africa’s digital divide, they are increasingly focused on competing across every segment of the broadband market.
