The National Communications Authority (NCA) in Ghana has described the operations of Starlink in Ghana as illegal and cautioned Ghanaians to desist from patronising any equipment or service purported to be from Starlink.
According to the Authority, “the NCA has neither licensed the operation of Starlink nor type approved any of their equipment.”
Portions of the statement read;
“Any entity which provides electronic communication services in Ghana without a. Licence or Authorisation from the NCA is in the direct violation of Section 3(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2008, Act 775 which states, “Except as otherwise provided under this Act, a person shall not operate a public electronic communications service or network or provide a voice telephony service without licence granted by the Authority.”
The statement comes about after the Authority’s attention was drawn to alleged sale of Starlink equipment and its operation in Ghana.
Starlink, Elon Musk’s internet satellite company is expected to officially arrive in Ghana by the 3rd quarter of 2024.
According to multiple reports, consumers will have to pay $110 per month to access the Starlink internet service. But before, you will have to pay a one-time fee of $599 before receiving the Starlink satellite dish and router.”
Over the past few days, a number of West African countries including Ghana, and Nigeria have been cut off internet services due to an undersea cable disruption.
According to the National Communications Authority, all subsea cable landing service providers in Ghana were completely cut off from international data services which has since affected data services in the West African sub-region.
It is estimated that full internet services may be restored in about 5 weeks.
