Starlink has introduced a new ‘Point of Presence’ (POP) in Nairobi, Kenya, significantly improving internet speeds and reducing latency for its users across Africa.
This development marks a major milestone for the satellite-based internet service in its mission to provide faster and more reliable connectivity.
Improved latency for African users
Over the weekend, African Starlink users noticed a dramatic improvement in latency, with speeds averaging 30 milliseconds, down from the previous range of 100 to 200 milliseconds.
Jimmy Grewal, Managing Director at Elcome, a Starlink reseller for commercial vessels, highlighted this breakthrough on social media.
Great news for our customers in Kenya who now have a local Starlink point-of-presence (PoP) and gateways to land their traffic in country. This will benefit all Starlink users in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean over time with lower latency, greater network capacity, and more reliable connectivity!
In Kenya itself, our customers have seen average latency drop from 120ms down to 26ms over the weekend!
READ: Ruto addresses Elon Musk's investment in Kenya amid Safaricom's opposition
This achievement wasn’t due to additional satellites in orbit but rather the activation of the new ground facility in Nairobi.
POPs like this one serve as crucial infrastructure where Starlink satellites connect to terrestrial internet networks, allowing data to travel faster and more efficiently.
The importance of ground infrastructure
While satellites are vital to Starlink’s operation, ground stations such as POPs play an equally critical role in improving speed and capacity.
Previously, African users often had to connect to a POP in Lagos, Nigeria, or even to facilities in Europe.
This long-distance data travel led to increased latency, particularly for users in East Africa. The Nairobi POP now enables faster data transmission and reduces congestion for Starlink subscribers in the region.
READ: Massive demand forces Starlink to pause new sign-ups in Nairobi, 6 other counties
Starlink’s global expansion
The Nairobi facility is part of Starlink’s broader effort to expand its ground infrastructure.
SpaceX currently operates 37 POPs worldwide, with recent additions in Warsaw, Milan, Mexico, and Calgary.
In North America, some POPs serve over 300,000 users, demonstrating their capacity to handle high traffic volumes.
The establishment of a Starlink POP in Nairobi is also expected to increase competition among local internet service providers.