NCC withdraws press statement on Starlink

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Situations turn around as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reverses its earlier statement in which it threatened to take action against Elon Musk’s internet company, Starlink, for raising its subscription prices without approval from the commission.

Dr Reuben Muoka, the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, initially confirmed that the Commission would sanction Starlink, as the price increase violated certain regulations. However, following the statement, Dr. Muoka later clarified that his previous statement was made in error, asking people to disregard it without providing further details on why the Commission had backtracked, despite the fact that Starlink appeared to have broken the rules.

This controversy resulted after a chain of events —following when Nairametrics reported that the NCC was planning to sanction Starlink. A plan that resulted from the criticism the regulator faced for allowing Starlink’s price increase while preventing local telecom companies from doing the same.

In a bid to answer the questions from Nairametrics, Dr. Muoka had earlier on said the NCC did not approve Starlink’s price hike. He highlighted that Starlink’s actions violated Sections 108 and 111 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, as well as its licensing terms related to tariffs. Muoka further opined that the regulator was taken by surprise when Starlink increased prices, especially since the company had requested approval from the NCC but had not yet received a response.

“The company jumped the gun by announcing price changes before we could give our approval,” Muoka said at the time, additionally noting that the NCC would take “appropriate enforcement measures” to maintain the stability of regulations in the telecom sector.

Netizens are raising eyebrows due to Dr. Muoka’s follow-up statement retracting his earlier remarks. In all, it still remains unclear why the NCC chose not to pursue action against Starlink, despite identifying a possible violation.