Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has announced that his satellite Internet service, Starlink, has been approved to launch in Nigeria.
Musk announced this on Friday via his Twitter account, stating that Starlink had been granted licenses to operate in Nigeria and Mozambique.
“Nigeria and Mozambique have approved Starlink,” he simply wrote.
The Nigerian Communications Commission confirmed this in a statement, revealing that the service had indeed received two licenses to begin operations in the country, according to Nairametics.
According to the NCC, the company has received “the International Gateway license and Internet Service Provider license, and will trade as Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd.”
The International Gateway and ISP licenses have 10-year and 5-year terms, respectively, according to the commission. Both licenses go into effect in May 2022 and can be renewed after they expire.
Musk’s announcement comes just days after he assured a Twitter user that the satellite service would soon be available in Africa.
Elon Musk says there will be no Twitter deal unless there is clarity on spam accounts.
“Starlink will serve anywhere on Earth where we are legally permitted to serve,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
Starlink, Musk’s space exploration company, launched it to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet around the world. It allows for video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high-speed activities.
Starlink has played an important role in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict, with the billionaire dispatching thousands of satellite stations to the war-torn country in March.
