Johannesburg, November 28 (EFE). – The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has ordered an immediate halt to all operations of Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite Internet company, in the African country where the organization operates illegally Thursday.
“Following an investigation, CRAN found that Starlink was operating a network in Namibia without the required telecommunications license,” the regulator said in a statement reported by local media ‘The Namibian’.
Starlink, he clarified, has applied for a license but it is still under review and has not been approved.
As well as sending a “cease and desist” order to the South African tycoon’s company, CRAN advised Namibians not to purchase Starlink equipment or subscribe to its services “as such activities are illegal under Namibian law”.
“CRAN investigators have already seized illegal terminals from consumers and have initiated criminal proceedings with the Namibian police in this regard,” the agency noted.
Starlink has reached at least 17 African countries in just over a year, shaking the foundations of national telecommunications companies.
In addition to Namibia, these countries are: Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi, Benin, Zambia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Madagascar, Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Chad and Niger, the last in the list added only a week ago. EFE
