Just when you thought Starlink was done shaking up Kenya’s internet scene, they’ve gone ahead and sprinkled a little more Musk magic with the arrival of the Starlink Mini. It’s been just over a year since Starlink hit Kenyan soil, with the standard kit initially costing close to a hefty Kshs 100,000 for early adopters. But hold on, the story’s gotten a lot more interesting since then.
Last year, the only place you could get your hands on Starlink hardware was through Karibu Connect, Starlink’s first authorized reseller in Kenya. That’s until April 2024, when Elon Musk’s spacey brainchild decided to cut the price of its standard kit by half, bringing it down to Kshs 45,500. By this time, the kit was already selling locally through multiple retailers, including online on Starlink’s official website. But just when we thought the price couldn’t go lower, Starlink surprised us with another cut in July, bringing the cost down to Kshs 30,000. They even introduced a kit rental plan for only Kshs 1,950 per month — ideal for those of us trying to avoid the big upfront splash.
Now, as if that wasn’t enough, the Starlink Mini has quietly landed. The new Mini kit goes for a cool Kshs 27,000 — yep, that’s right, even cheaper than July’s discounted price of the standard kit. This little sibling of the standard kit is already available for order and will likely attract anyone who’s been eyeing Starlink but waiting for something a bit more pocket-friendly. Not yours truly, though. I’ll wait a little longer.
On the ordering page, you’ll now find two hardware options: “Mini” and “Standard Actuated.” If you go for the standard unit, you’ll still pay the April price of Kshs 45,500, which seems to have stuck as the default. Interestingly, the standard kit also comes with optional accessories like an ethernet adapter (Kshs 5,742), a 45M cable (Kshs 23,197), a long wall mount (Kshs 14,786), and a pipe adapter (Kshs 13,283). Oddly enough, the Starlink Mini doesn’t have any of these accessories attached to its purchase.
Now, onto the data plans — because the hardware is just half the story. Back in June, Starlink introduced the 50GB plan in Kenya for Kshs 1,300 per month. This data-capped plan, which added to the standard Kshs 6,500/month plan, was the first of its kind tailored exclusively for Kenya, offering a more affordable option to those in need of reliable connectivity without breaking the bank.
Fast forward to now, and Starlink has gone a step further, offering a total of three Residential plans for Kenyans. The top-tier Residential plan (formerly the “standard” plan), priced at Kshs 6,500 per month, offers unlimited data and is described as the “most popular plan for typical residential customers.” But the real headliner here is the new “Residential Lite” plan, which sneaks in between the Residential 50GB and Residential options. For Kshs 4,000 a month, you get unlimited deprioritized data — meaning speeds might dip during peak hours, but hey, it’s an affordable alternative for smaller households or those not using the web like it’s a second job. And I bet it’ll still likely be faster than Safaricom’s new 30Mbps ‘Silver’ plan that goes for Kshs 4,100 per month.
And of course, the usual shipping and handling fee of Kshs 3,100 for the standard actuated model still applies to the Starlink Mini.
But Starlink’s entry into Kenya hasn’t just changed the game for rural or remote internet users — it’s sparked some serious competition. Dominant telco Safaricom has stepped up, introducing ‘enhanced’ home and business internet packages. The telco now offers a blazing 1Gbps plan for Kshs 20,000 per month, a significant boost from their earlier offerings. Safaricom hasn’t just thrown in the towel either — they’ve increased speeds across all their packages to make sure their loyal customers aren’t wooed away by Musk’s satellites. This race for better internet speeds means Kenyans are the real winners here, with more options for faster and more reliable internet.
For those keeping tabs on Elon Musk’s posts on X, he had teased back in June that the Starlink Mini was set to land in Kenya “later this year” at half the price of the standard terminal. Well, that moment has arrived.
Starlink Mini will be about half the standard terminal price and available later this year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 26, 2024
