Starlink Adds 10,191 Kenyan Subscribers but New Orders Stalled in Eight Counties

Sector data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show that Starlink's subscriber base in Kenya reached 27,616 by June 2026, a 58.5 per cent increase from 17,425 a year earlier, adding 10,191 customers over the 12-month period. The same data indicate that new residential customers in Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Machakos, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Kwale and Kilifi are being placed on a waiting list because network capacity is stretched.

The CA figures also reveal that the 27,616 subscriptions represent about one per cent of Kenya’s 2.84 million fixed internet connections and give Starlink a 99.7 per cent share of the 27,695 satellite broadband subscriptions in the country. By contrast, Safaricom holds 1.02 million fixed subscriptions (36.1 per cent), Jamii Telecommunications 541,003 (19.1 per cent) and Wananchi Group 294,375 (10.4 per cent).

TechTrends Kenya noted that a similar suspension began in late 2024 when demand exceeded capacity in Nairobi and surrounding counties, a freeze that lasted roughly seven months before new orders resumed in July 2025; the latest pause marks the third month of the current waiting-list regime.

Business Daily Africa reported that Ookla speed tests showed a median download speed of 34.55 Mbps in March 2026, down from about 47 Mbps a year earlier, a decline of roughly 26 per cent, while latency at Starlink’s Nairobi point of presence fell from about 296 ms to roughly 39 ms after local ground infrastructure was activated.

Sector data further indicate that fibre subscriptions rose 29.7 per cent to 1.57 million and the overall fixed internet market grew 32.4 per cent to 2.84 million connections between June 2025 and June 2026, with total international bandwidth increasing 18.5 per cent to 28,950 Gbps.

Kabui Mwangi of Nation Media Group reported that Amazon Kuiper Kenya Limited has applied for a Network Facilities Provider licence and plans a satellite ground station in Kenya, that Airtel Kenya is trialling Starlink Direct-to-Cell technology, and that Paratus is using Starlink to connect 170 health facilities in Murang’a for telemedicine.