KAMPALA, May 15 (Reuters) – Uganda has granted a license to Elon Musk’s satellite internet firm Starlink to operate in the East African country, President Yoweri Museveni said in a post on X on Friday.
Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has been rapidly expanding across Africa and is already operating in more than a dozen countries on the continent, including Somalia.
Museveni said he had presided over the signing of an “operational licence agreement between the Uganda Communications Commission and Starlink, marking an important step towards the commencement of their operations in Uganda.”
The Uganda Communications Commission is the country’s communications sector regulator.
“I am pleased that Starlink has agreed to comply with Uganda’s laws and regulatory requirements as it prepares to begin service delivery in the country,” he added.
Ugandan consumers have long complained about the high cost and unreliability of domestic internet services, which some blame on limited competition in the market.
A unit of South African telecom giant MTN Group, dominates Uganda’s data market, competing mainly with a unit of India’s Bharti Airtel.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Ros Russell)
