By Justus Adejumoh
Copyright independent
LAGOS – Starlink has stopped accepting new residential orders in Lagos and Abuja after its satellite net-work reached full capacity.
Residents in affected areas must now join a waitlist, highlighting the company’s fast growth and Nigeria’s limited internet infrastructure.
On Starlink’s portal, neighbour-hoods such as Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos Island, Surulere, and several es-tates in Abuja now carry a bold “Sold Out” notice.
Users attempting to subscribe are prompted to pay a deposit to secure a place in line. A message displayed to applicants in Chevyville Estate, Lek-ki, reads: “Starlink service is current-ly at capacity in your area. However, the good news is you can still place a deposit now to reserve your spot on the waitlist and receive a notification as soon as service becomes available again.”
In November 2024, Starlink also suspended nationwide sales for almost eight months, pointing to bandwidth shortages and unresolved disputes with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over tariff ap-provals.
New activations only resumed in June 2025, after the company secured regulatory clearance and upgraded parts of its infrastructure.
An engineer working with Starlink, who spoke to TechCabal, explained the reasoning behind the pause: “It hap-pens when the area cannot take a new customer due to its designed capacity at the time. This also ensures optimal network connectivity for the other users within the same geographical area.”
Expanding this capacity, he add-ed, often requires either new satellite launches or regulatory permissions to build more ground infrastructure.
Starlink’s service has become more expensive since its 2022 entry into Ni-geria. The monthly subscription has climbed from around N38,000 to near-ly N56,000 by 2025, with hardware kits priced between N300,000 and N670,000 depending on the model. The company blamed the naira’s depreciation, oper-ating costs, and compliance with NCC regulations.
The hikes triggered strong com-plaints from users. In October 2024, the NCC sanctioned Starlink for un-authorised increases, noting breaches of Sections 108 and 111 of the Nigeri-an Communications Act. The regu-lator forced a rollback from N75,000 to N38,000 monthly before eventually approving moderated adjustments in early 2025.
But, the damage was already vis-ible. NCC data shows active Starlink subscribers fell from 65,564 in Q4 2024 to 59,509 in Q1 2025, a 9% drop and the company’s first decline in Nige-ria since launch. Analysts pointed to high tariffs, economic hardship, and service delays from capacity freezes as key drivers of the drop.
Even with over 6.2 million global users as of July 2025 and more than 900 satellites launched this year, Star-link’s speeds in Nigeria remain below regional averages. Reports place its Ni-gerian download speeds at 49.6 Mbps, significantly lower than Botswana’s 106.4 Mbps.
Experts attribute the gap to fewer satellites serving Nigeria, overcrowded cells in major cities, and a limited num-ber of terrestrial Points of Presence.
While Starlink remains Nigeria’s largest satellite internet provider, its difficulties have opened room for com-petitors. YahClick, supported by Nige-rian ISPs, offers plans from N25,000 per month. Tizeti has rolled out solar-pow-ered broadband at N5,000 monthly, targeting underserved communities. Eutelsat Konnect, though pricier at $18,500 per month, promises up to 100 Mbps speeds.
