Hopefully, soon the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) and Starlink will reach an agreement and satellite internet will be available in Pakistan. Will there be any disruption in its provision? Will a space shark intercept the signal or not, the answer to that will be in another post, but today we will try to estimate its price.
Starlink’s hardware costs around $350 to $600 and its packages vary in different countries due to different data rates, which we will discuss.
Since we belong to a developing country, we will see some discount in their rates. I have guessed this from their rates in various underdeveloped countries in Africa. Here we will take Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya as a reference to estimate the expected prices in our country.
Currently, Zambia and Nigeria are considered relatively cheap countries, but in October 2024, its price has been increased by 90%. In terms of Starlink packages, which previously had a package of up to $23 for a basic household user, it has now been increased to $50 with a data limit of 1 terabyte and the price of the hardware has also been increased from $220 to $300 (Nigeria). If we talk about the price of the broadband connection already available there in Nigeria, then the price of Starlink has now become equal to them, only the price of the hardware is higher.
Similarly, if we talk about Kenya, its hardware can also be rented there, which is $15 per month and the minimum package (50 GB data) can be purchased for $10 per month and $50 will have to be paid for the Unlimited plan. The speed of all these connections is up to 200mbps.
Now let’s talk about the expected prices in Pakistan, this is our guess based on the packages of these countries. The hardware price can be at least Rs 100, 000 for domestic and Rs 200, 000 to 400, 000 for business. The minimum package of one terabyte (1TB) will cost between $30 and $40 and with an unlimited data plan it will cost between $50 and $60.
If we compare these prices with PTCL’s Flash Fiber,
30mbps at Rs. 3800
40mbps at Rs. 6000
50mbps at Rs. 7000
100mbps at Rs. 12600
250mbps at Rs. 26000
If we make a simple comparison, the $50 Starlink package with unlimited data is better than PTCL’s 100mb because Starlink’s availability is about 99% but the hardware price is higher. People can also share Starlink connections, so if 3 people share a $50 package, you will get a great option for $5, 000 per month.
Finally, apart from the initial price of Starlink, its package rates will be very competitive, which may cause problems for local internet service providers.
