South Africa misses out on Starlink Mobile as FCC clears global roaming
SpaceX's direct-to-cell service, newly rebranded Starlink Mobile, has US permission to roam in more than 150 countries — but South Africa is missing from the list while all six of its neighbours appear on it.
South Africa’s name is missing among the more than 150 countries where SpaceX plans to offer its direct-to-cell service — recently rebranded Starlink Mobile — MyBroadband reports.
The analysis follows a decision taken on 17 September, when the US Federal Communications Commission approved Starlink’s application for a global mobile roaming service. The Section 214 decision lets it carry international voice, data and Internet traffic across US borders via interconnections with its subsidiaries. It covers the direct-to-cell service, not the ground-antenna residential offering.
The filing lists 29 African countries where Starlink holds or has applied for telecom permission. It includes Starlink entities in all six of South Africa’s neighbours — Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. All but Namibia have granted local permission; Namibia’s communications regulator has twice rejected Starlink’s licence applications over local ownership rules.
South Africa, by contrast, is absent from the list. While SpaceX has set up a local subsidiary, it has not applied for a licence — an application MyBroadband describes as “a fruitless exercise” under rules set by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). A telecom licensee must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups, including black people, youth, women and people with disabilities.
SpaceX wants the regulator to accept equity-equivalent investment programmes instead of ownership stakes, and has offered free Internet to 5,000 rural schools as part of its programme. Communications minister Solly Malatsi directed ICASA in December 2025 to recognise such programmes, but the regulator said in May it needed an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act to give full effect.
Sources
- MyBroadband — “South Africa misses out on Starlink Mobile”
- Tesla North — “FCC Grants SpaceX Authority to Carry Starlink Mobile Abroad”
- TechCentral — “Icasa’s blunt message to Starlink and other satellite operators”
- Moneyweb — “SA moves to ease rules to enable Starlink entry”
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