Over 2,000 Kenyans abandoned Starlink’s satellite internet service in just three months, marking the company’s first major decline in the local market since its entry in June 2023.
According to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Starlink’s user base fell to 17,066 by March 2025, a drop of 10.8 per cent from the 19,146 subscribers recorded in December 2024.
This fall pushed its market share below one per cent, from 1.1 to 0.9 per cent, and moved it from seventh to eighth place among internet service providers (ISPs).
The decline followed a suspension of new sign-ups in Nairobi and nearby counties in November 2024, with Starlink citing limited network capacity. The temporary pause in onboarding halted the company’s previously rapid growth in Kenya and affected its performance across the satellite internet market.
Dimension Data overtook Starlink during the quarter, now holding one per cent of Kenya’s internet market share.
Despite Starlink’s slump, the overall number of fixed broadband subscriptions in Kenya grew by 138,895, bringing the total to 1.85 million by March 2025. The growth benefited other ISPs, including Safaricom, which added 56,949 new subscribers to grow its market share from 36.1 to 36.5 per cent.
Other notable gains were recorded by Jamii Telecommunications (Faiba), which added 12,663 users; Poa Internet, with 23,461 new connections; and Wananchi Group (Zuku), which grew by 3,606 subscribers. Only Vijiji Connect experienced a decline.
The CA reported that total satellite internet subscriptions fell by 1,928—down 9.9 per cent from 19,403 in December to 17,475 in March. The decline was largely driven by Starlink, which holds 97 per cent of Kenya’s satellite-internet market.
“Satellite internet subscriptions dropped by 9.9 per cent compared to quarter two of the 2024/2025 financial year, a decline attributed to the drop in subscriptions of the Low Earth Orbit satellite internet provided by Starlink Internet Services Kenya,” CA stated in its latest quarterly report.
This marked the first quarterly decline in satellite internet subscriptions since Starlink’s launch in Kenya.
Starlink has since resumed onboarding new subscribers, ending the eight-month freeze that also affected its growth in other fast-expanding African markets, including Nigeria and South Sudan.
The company had posted impressive growth after its Kenyan launch, reaching a 0.5 per cent market share by September 2024 and doubling that figure by December—before its network capacity constraints slowed its momentum.
