Elon Musk’s Starlink has made a significant leap in Nigeria’s internet market, becoming the country’s third-largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) by subscriber base in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Starlink’s active customer base surged to 23,897 in Q4 2024, representing a remarkable 113% growth from the previous quarter.
The NCC’s data reveals that Starlink has made significant strides in the Nigerian market, with its customer base more than doubling in just one quarter. This growth has propelled the company to the third spot among ISPs in Nigeria, behind Spectranet, which maintains its lead with 113,869 active customers, and FiberOne, which has 27,000 active users.
Despite this growth, the total number of active ISP customers in Nigeria remains relatively low, with only 106 out of 245 licensed ISPs having active customers as of Q4 2023. The cumulative active customer base of these ISPs stands at 262,206, a fraction of the 163.8 million active internet subscriptions held by the four mobile network operators in the country.
In an effort to further expand its customer base, Starlink, in April, announced a 45% price reduction on its router, bringing the cost down to N440,000. However, the monthly subscription fee remains unchanged at N38,000.
The NCC has also licensed seven new ISPs this year, bringing the total number of licensed ISPs to 252. This growth in the number of ISPs and the increasing competition in the market are expected to drive innovation and improvement in internet services in Nigeria.
