SpaceX has purportedly disconnected several customers in South Africa from its satellite Internet service, Starlink, due to alleged trademark and copyright infringements.
Though Starlink is not officially supported in South Africa, its roaming service works in the country. To ship Starlink kits directly to South Africa, users must register the service and have it delivered to a country that officially supports Starlink.
StarSat Africa, among it’s other businesses, imports Starlink kits for South Africans. Reports say last week StarSat Africa introduced a plan to reduce prices for Starlink kits by between 13% and 20%.SpaceX reportedly locked the accounts of 350-400 StarSat Africa customers, citing violations of the Starlink Terms of Service, unauthorised resale, and trademark infringement.
Consequently, the company insisted on the immediate suspension of unauthorised resales and the use of the Starlink mark to avoid confusion.StarSat Africa revealed that SpaceX rejected its application to become an authorised Starlink reseller, prompting customers to migrate their accounts.
The company is working with SpaceX to reactivate the locked accounts, with a 24-hour turnaround time for support tickets.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (ICASA) licencing requirements pose a challenge to Starlink’s direct-to-customer model in South Africa.Compliance with ownership regulations and the scarcity of new licences are obstacles, with potential costs and delays in obtaining existing licences.
Starlink’s unwillingness to collaborate with licenced local ISPs complicates its national rollout with authorised resellers limited to business kits, complicating Starlink’s South African operations.
Philips Babatunde