Elon Musk's Starlink was 'overhyped' and not the 'be-all and end-all' of wireless connectivity

Elon Musk and his satellite internet business Starlink are “getting more hype than they deserve”.

This is what Paul Colmer, an executive committee member of the Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) said about the controversial Pretoria-born tech billionaire and his company in an interview on Monday about his association’s upcoming conference next month.

As Colmer explains in a statement announcing the conference, this year’s gathering of the wireless, fibre and satellite connectivity ecosystem players of South Africa will not just be about wi-fi, but “WAPALOZA 2025 is about embracing everything from fibre and fixed wireless to satellite and private LTE/5G networks. The regulatory environment is evolving, Dynamic Spectrum Allocation is finally on the table, and we’re now seeing tangible opportunities to create smarter, more resilient networks across South Africa and the rest of the continent.”

While Starlink, as well as the other two satellite internet constellations will likely be discussed, for Colmer the exciting item on the agenda is what is known as dynamic spectrum allocation, which he said presented “huge opportunities” for their sector’s quest to “connect the unconnected” and offer them affordable internet in semi-rural and rural areas who the "telecommunications giants" have not found it economically viable to connect.

Starlink has been in the news since the beginning of the year after US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House with significant help from Musk. And the businessman has not made things easier for his business getting a licence by falsely claiming his plans to enter the South African market were frustrated because he was not black.

Last week Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi announced in a policy directive a proposed relaxing of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements to accommodate operators like Starlink, a move that has been criticised as against the law and offering Musk special treatment.

Scheduled for June 23-25 at the Misty Hills Hotel and Conference Centre in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg, WAPALOZA 2025 will gather local and international experts, operators, and innovators under the theme “Wireless Without Limits” – exploring the future of connectivity and unlocking new revenue streams in an increasingly competitive market.

Colmer said there were many and rapid changes – “and many good things” - happening in the telecommunications space, one of them being the dynamic spectrum allocation. He said to achieve the government’s goal of “not leaving anyone behind” in the digital transformation will require the input of the SMMEs like WAPA’s members, and not the “big players”.

“Vodacom and MTN have done a reasonable job of getting connectivity to virtually everywhere in South Africa. What they haven’t managed to do is deliver it affordably. And that’s the barrier that WAPA have to do (to breach),” he said.

Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) is an approach to radio spectrum management that  allocates radio spectrum resources based on real-time demand and network conditions, and is particularly beneficial to emerging wireless services operators. While DSM will be one of the key points of discussion at the Wapaloza, the SpaceX-Starlink issue cannot be avoided.

Explaining the reasons for the “hype”, Colmer said Starlink was “overhyped” because it was the first LEO (low-Earth orbit) satellite constellation to be launched and the first to offer “uncapped, affordable” packages.

“And, also, it was super-techy; it was Elon Musk; it was all of that. It also had a lot of wow factor. And this is why all the associated problems have happened with it, that in South Africa, as you know, there were companies that were set up and collapsed  – (and were) taken down – who were bringing the equipment in from neighbouring countries ... And there was people buying Starlink dishes and getting connected … who didn’t really need to. They had perfectly good connectivity already… and they became the proud owners of what I call R15 000 camping tables, which was all they were good for.”

He said there were two other similar companies with services already available in South Africa – Utelsat’s OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

“OneWeb is virtually identical to Starlink and is also available in SA, but you don’t see Jeff Bezos’s face in the news.”

While reluctant to express a personal view about Starlink and the licensing controversy for fear of being “labelled”, Colmer said he believed “regulation is critical in the telecommunications landscape of South Africa”. He also expressed praise for the speed with which Icasa has been developing the parameter framework for dynamic spectrum management.

“What I do praise Icasa for – and it’s going to be a big discussion point at Wapaloza – they’ve made giant steps forward in introducing the framework for dynamic spectrum allocation. That is huge  – most economical way to use and manage spectrum. It’s the life blood of the industry we operate in.”

However, Colmer said their association – which is a non-profit organisation – would like to see lesser and more of a “soft touch” from the government and the regulator with respect to compliance and reporting for the smaller operators like their members. He said at the moment the reporting required was “excessive” for SMMEs.

“There is a one-size-fits-all. Some of my SMMEs could be as small as two people building networks. They are under the same compliance and reporting obligations as Vodacom and MTN, who would have their own departments set up to manage these things,” said Colmer.

He said there were “pros and cons” for both sides of the debate around sticking to BBBEE and the “equity equivalent investment” way around it proposed by Telecommunications Minister Solly Malatsi. And it’s bound to be discussed at their conference.

“I’m sure it’s gonna get mentioned … You need to sort this out. But Starlink, to me, is not the be-all and end-all of everything. I think it’s overhyped.”