Starlink’s N159,000 lifeline hits Nigeria’s starved cities

Starlink threw open its premium Business Priority service in Nigeria’s choked urban zones on February 14, giving businesses and deep-pocket users in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt a way around months of “Sold Out” blocks, but only if they can stomach N159,000 ($99.38) a month.

Website checks in prime Lagos spots like Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Surulere still show the same blunt notice: high demand means residential orders stay shut, with only Priority plans on offer. Would-be home users get pushed to waitlists that offer little more than vague promises and upfront deposits with no firm rollout date.

The Priority tier delivers 1TB or 2TB of high-priority data each month before any slowdown risk in heavy traffic, though total usage remains uncapped. Subscribers get bumped-up support and a public IPv4 address, handy for offices running servers, VPNs or surveillance setups.

Hardware adds real pain. For instance, basic kits hover near N590,000 ($369), but the company steers business customers toward the tougher Flat High Performance dish, priced from N3.15 million to N4.1 million ($1,969–$2,563) to hold up in rain and crowds.The step comes as competition builds fast.

Read also: Starlink direct-to-cell coming to Nigeria in 2026

Amazon’s Project Kuiper locked in Nigerian landing rights back in January 2026, setting the stage for a push that could pressure Starlink’s hold on Africa’s biggest market. Keeping premium revenue rolling from companies and high-end remote setups lets the company stay in the game in valuable city centers while it works through capacity fixes.

Starlink adjusts fees country by country across Africa, where residential monthly rates typically land between $10 and $50. In Kenya a Residential Lite plan starts around $10 for 50GB capped, with unlimited options usually $28–$38. Mozambique, Ghana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe often fall in the $28–$34 band for basic unlimited. Nigeria’s own residential rate, when spots open outside jammed areas, sits roughly $35–$40 after earlier tweaks, so the Priority jump feels especially sharp.

The service now runs in roughly two dozen African countries. Early starters include Nigeria (from 2023), Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Benin and Eswatini. Later additions cover Ghana, Zimbabwe, Senegal and Liberia (both early 2026), plus spots like Madagascar, Botswana, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Burundi and others, about 26 nations total with clearances in place, though South Africa stays held up by ownership rules.

Nigeria’s capacity crunch started late 2024 when sign-ups exploded past what ground links and spectrum could handle.

Read also: NCC lists broadband expansion, digital inclusion as foundation for Nigeria’s digital future

A pricing clash with the Nigerian Communications Commission froze new residential orders nationwide for eight months, November 2024 through June 2025. When sales restarted at the adjusted N57,000 residential level, big-city demand still swamped supply.

From September 2025 dense Lagos and Abuja pockets stayed closed to home sign-ups.SpaceX keeps pumping satellites up: the fleet passed 9,700 by late February 2026, driven by 18 launches this year, including 11 in February and a standout February 21 doubleheader that notched a reusability high.

Ground bottlenecks, gateways, local spectrum deals, regulatory steps, still cap how much bandwidth actually reaches users in crowded places.For the average Lagos or Abuja resident shut out of the Priority escape, steady internet stays out of reach.

Starlink’s play holds onto paying customers and fends off rivals for now, but real relief across the cities will depend on how quickly orbital growth turns into usable street-level capacity.