An independent Internet analyst predicted that South Africa's northern neighbour and key regional trading partner became the continent's largest Starlink market in the second quarter of 2026.
SpaceX’s Starlink has pushed satellite Internet subscribers in Zimbabwe past those using digital subscriber line (DSL) products and is close to surpassing the customer base of fibre products.
While the launch of Starlink in South Africa would profoundly change the lives of millions of people and benefit many businesses, it is unlikely to disrupt the local fixed-line industry to the same extent.
That is because fixed-line connections in Zimbabwe can be unaffordable, and Starlink has introduced much-needed pricing competition.
The service’s immense impact on South Africa’s northside neighbour was recently detailed in a quarterly report from the Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.
The data showed that satellite services were the biggest driver of growth in fixed broadband subscribers since the third quarter of 2024, which was when Starlink arrived in the country.
Between Q3 2024 and Q1 2026, fixed broadband services in Zimbabwe recorded a net addition of 131,621 users, growing from 286,271 to 417,892.
Satellite Internet subscribers surged by 2,167% from 3,814 users to 86,488. The technology was responsible for 53% of the total of 157,081 new sign-ups, which excludes losses in other technologies.
While the satellite figures include older VSAT services, experts like independent Internet consultant Willard Shoko attributed the vast majority of the gain to Starlink.
The satellite tally was just 17 subscribers short of active fibre users, which only increased by 8.9% from 79,462 to 86,505 over the same period.
Fixed-LTE also recorded a substantial 74.6% increase, with subscribers climbing from 89,716 to 156,667, a gain of 66,951. DSL users fell from 98,155 to 84,107, dropping below satellite for the first time.
Shoko said that Zimbabwe was on track to become Africa’s largest Starlink market by the second quarter of 2026, surpassing Nigeria’s 98,642 users.
It will also boast more Starlink customers than any European country. Shoko called on Starlink to enhance its offering in Zimbabwe to better cater for demand in the country.
He asked for new package tiers, local ground stations, and a point of presence, which would reduce latency and improve content delivery.
The nearest ground station is currently located outside Maputo in Mozambique, while the closest PoPs are at NAPAfrica and the Johannesburg Internet Exchange Point in South Africa.
The graph below summarises changes in subscribers for the main type of fixed broadband service in Zimbabwe between the third quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2026.
Credit: Willard Shoko (Click to enlarge)
Some might regard the development as a potential warning for South African fibre networks, should Starlink overcome its regulatory hurdles and launch locally.
However, Zimbabwe’s broadband landscape is worlds apart from South Africa’s. Starlink in particular has benefited from the country’s poor Internet coverage and high data prices.
Before Starlink’s entry, Zimbabwe had among the world’s most expensive fixed Internet prices, as shown in Surfshark’s 2023 Digital Quality of Life Index.
Where South Africans only had to work an average of an hour and 43 minutes to afford fixed broadband Internet, Zimbabweans had to work 72 hours and 39 minutes to afford a monthly subscription.
Across the 121 countries analysed, it ranked dead last for fixed Internet affordability. At the time of Starlink’s launch in Zimbabwe, uncapped FTTH services were priced from around $150 (R2,400).
With pricing starting at $30 (R480) for an uncapped package offering speeds over 100Mbps at launch in September 2024, Starlink was a game-changer.
Within a year, it had amassed 40,000 subscribers in the country, around half the number of users on fibre, a technology which had been deployed in Zimbabwe for over a decade at that point.
Its entry forced fixed Internet operators like Liquid Home to slash prices. Zimbabwean publication Techzim speculated that Starlink had boosted the fibre sector by making its prices more attractive.
In Surfshark’s latest DQL Index for 2025, Zimbabwe ranked 78th in fixed Internet affordability, with the average time required to afford a broadband subscription at 4 hours and 16 minutes.
The service was so in demand that Starlink had to suspend new sign-ups in and around the capital of Harare and Bulawayo from November 2024 to February 2026.
Starlink was not designed for use by a large number of subscribers in urban areas, where fixed connectivity is best suited for meeting high demand.
Within two months, Zimbabwean customers complained of speeds much slower than advertised. To resume sign-ups in Zimbabwe’s urban areas, Starlink first had to increase its satellite fleet’s capacity.
South Africa has a much healthier fixed broadband market, with major fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks serving around 10 million households.
As most operate on an open-access basis, with ISPs reselling their lines, the market is highly competitive in pricing and service delivery.
Networks have also increasingly targeted lower-income areas with even more affordable packages, starting at R99 per month for Vuma Key or R5 per day for Fibertime.
In addition to FTTH, South Africans have a wide range of alternative products with near comparable performance and pricing to choose from.
These include uncapped fixed-wireless, fixed-5G, and fixed-LTE products, with entry-level prices starting well below R400 per month.
If it launches in South Africa, Starlink’s primary target market will be deep rural areas, where deployments of terrestrial services don’t make financial sense.
