Namibia’s communications regulator has dismissed an appeal by Starlink against the rejection of its licence applications, reaffirming that the satellite internet provider failed to satisfy the country’s local ownership requirements.
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) initially rejected Starlink’s applications for a telecommunications service licence and a radio spectrum access licence in March, citing non-compliance with ownership and control provisions set out in the Communications Act.
In a statement, CRAN said Starlink’s submission remained inconsistent with the ownership and control requirements stipulated under Section 46 of the Act.
The regulator further noted that Starlink’s request for reconsideration was submitted after the statutory deadline, which expired on 23 April.
According to CRAN, it received a total of 624 requests for reconsideration from members of the public. Of these, 622 were dismissed on procedural and jurisdictional grounds.
The remaining two submissions, which met the necessary requirements, failed to introduce any new evidence or identify material errors in the regulator’s original ruling.
“CRAN affirms that the reconsideration requests did not provide a sufficient legal or factual basis to alter the original decision,” the authority stated.
Similar Challenges in South Africa
Starlink is facing comparable obstacles in neighbouring South Africa, where telecommunications licence holders are required to have at least 30 per cent ownership by historically disadvantaged groups. SpaceX has consistently argued that it cannot comply with this requirement, maintaining that it will not relinquish equity in its local operations.
Elon Musk, who was born in Pretoria, has publicly claimed that Starlink has been unable to secure a licence in South Africa because he is “not black”.
South Africa’s Minister of Communications, Solly Malatsi, has sought to address the impasse by promoting the use of Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs), which would allow multinational companies to meet empowerment obligations through investments in skills development, enterprise support and infrastructure rather than through equity transfers.
Although Malatsi has insisted that the proposal is not intended to benefit any particular company, it has been widely viewed as an attempt to facilitate Starlink’s entry into the South African market. The move has sparked strong opposition from coalition partners and opposition parties, including the ANC, EFF and MK Party, with some threatening legal action.
However, the proposal encountered a further setback in May when the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) informed the minister that the policy could not be fully implemented without amendments to the Electronic Communications Act. Any such changes would require parliamentary approval, a process that could take months or even years.
For now, the situation remains unchanged. ICASA says it has not received a formal licence application from SpaceX, while Starlink services continue to be accessed in South Africa primarily through grey-market imports. Industry observers increasingly believe that a lawful commercial launch is unlikely before 2027.
Across both Namibia and South Africa, local ownership requirements remain the principal barrier to Starlink’s expansion, with little indication that the political debate surrounding the issue will subside anytime soon.
