Govt considers benefit of entities such as Starlink

South Africa’s government continues to consider the potential benefits of enhanced attraction of investment, job creation and competition that entities such as Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink can bring to South Africa, said Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi. In line with this, and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies’ aim of lowering regulatory hurdles to investment in cheap, reliable broadband, the Minister plans to issue a policy directive to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), in terms of Section 3(2) of the Electronic Communications Act, to clarify the department’s position on the recognition of equity equivalent programmes for urgent consideration.