Let’s talk straight for a minute….

So it finally happened. Over last weekend, our own President, His Excellency Emerson Mngangagwa announced that Starlink is officially being granted a license to operate in Zimbabwe. Some rejoiced. After all, this was what many a Zimbabwean had been waiting for… until they read a specific wrinkle about Starlink’s distribution in our country. Starlink’s services will be distributed by Wicknell Chivayo’s IMC communications and well, as you can expect people weren’t happy about that. But as the week has progressed, one can’t help but wonder whether this might still be a win for the average Zimbabwean. After all, if we get actually reliable and affordable Starlink services, would it matter who is distributing them? Well, let’s discuss that for a second.

Now let’s start with the obvious issue here: Wicknell Chivayo himself. In a country like ours and its…… let’s say unique economic and socio-political landscape, one where simple modern necessities such as internet access have become a luxury for most, the likes of Chivayo and other “tenderpreneurs” have risen and prospered by taking advantage of many broken systems in the country, often using shady business practices to hinder or destroy projects meant to make the country better. Simply put, the average Zimbabwean hates this guy, and what he stands for, for obvious and understandable reasons. But we’re not here to talk about the many ways Chivayo has allegedly stolen from the nation. There are articles related to this from Pindula, The Standard, and many other publications that would explain all that better. Instead we want to look at whether a company owned by an at best controversial individual can still get Starlink services to people the way they are supposed to. And well the short answer to that is that it depends on the deal Starlink and IMC made. Allegedly the deal was already made behind closed doors, with even POTRAZ and the Ministry of ICT out of the loop. But even with those variables, what Starlink and IMC agree on is what will actually affect most of us.

So what are the terms of the deal then? Well based on President Mngangagwa’s announcement it seems IMC will be the sole authorized reseller and distributor of Starlink hardware and services within the country. Starlink themselves have a reseller policy that essentially states that anyone who acquires services through a reseller will need to deal with Starlink through that reseller, including when it comes to subscriptions or issues like hardware maintenance. This would mean whatever your Starlink needs may be, IMC would be who you have to communicate with to have them met. Which brings us to the second and arguably most important point: Pricing. Now at the time of speaking it doesn’t seem that a completely finalized pricing list for Starlink services in Zimbabwe, for example there is still some lack of clarity around about any local pricing especially when it comes to the aspect of installation costs. This is important because this specific area is where IMC might have some freedom to make a little more money. As for the monthly subscriptions?

Well ironically despite ZTN’s controversial breakdown shown in a recent broadcast, they weren’t wrong about pricing tiers. Starlink is likely to cost $38 for the base tier with Unlimited data, but 1TB of fair use policy, where surpassing 1TB of usage means your speeds will slow down. The other tiers that ZTN had classified as according to speed are actually based on latency as well as higher fair use policy, often aimed at businesses. Either way the important part is these subscriptions will likely be paid to Starlink directly, through a Starlink account that you will open once you acquire their services. As such the fear that monthly costs will skyrocket because of a Zimbabwean company being well, a Zimbabwean company, should be unfounded, even if that company is owned by Mr Chivhayo. This doesn’t mean that IMC won’t try and make any more money, perhaps charging a fee for assistance in registration, but as far as paying for your Starlink each month, we hopefully should all be safe. And if anyone from Starlink reads this, please don’t increase prices too much. The GIF below will explain why.