WINDHOEK, June 23 — Namibia‘s communications regulator on Monday upheld its decision to reject licence applications by Starlink Internet Services Namibia, maintaining the satellite internet provider’s exclusion from the local market.
Speaking at a media briefing in Windhoek, Emilia Nghikembua, chief executive officer of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), said the authority had concluded the reconsideration process relating to its March 23 decision.
Namibia had initially rejected Starlink’s application for a Class Comprehensive Telecommunications Service Licence and an associated spectrum licence after CRAN found that the company met only three of six legal criteria.
The regulator cited shortcomings related to ownership and control, national defense and public security, and compliance history.
It insisted that Starlink’s wholly foreign-owned local entity had not obtained an exemption from the requirement for telecommunications licensees to have at least 51 percent Namibian ownership.
Nghikembua said CRAN received 624 reconsideration requests from members of the public and interested parties. Of these, 622 failed to meet procedural and jurisdictional requirements needed to trigger a valid reconsideration process.
The remaining two requests were assessed on their merits but did not present new facts or identify a material error in the original decision, she said.
CRAN also dismissed a reconsideration request submitted by Starlink on June 8, saying it was filed after the statutory deadline, which expired on April 23.
A separate petition submitted on June 17 and signed by more than 5,000 people could likewise not be considered because it was lodged after the legal deadline, the authority noted.
However, Nghikembua said the decision should not be interpreted as opposition to innovation or satellite technology.(Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
