Starlink In Namibia

[Mike Schoby]

Ok - Im just curious if someone can explain this to me. I brought my starlink to Namibia last year and when I arrived was told by the locals that it won't work as there is a riff between South Africa, Namibia and Starlink so Namibia isn't allowing them to work. I plugged it in and sure enough it doesn't connect at all in Namibia (or South Africa for that matter) - other African countries no problem - used it in Zambia later the same year.

So I did some research and found this to be the case - Namibia government is requiring starlink to be 51% owned by Namibians to operate in Namibia - my question is how the hell is it physically possible? I mean I could see Namibia banning the sale of them in country, but when you bring your own in how does Namibia have the ability to essentially block it from working?

 

[Milo'sSyndicate]

THEORY: Namibia has put a block on all VPN-like services, not just StarLink systems.

Our StarLink VPN sometimes geo-locates us into areas of Illinois where firearm/ammo purchases would be illegal w/o FOID card, but we don't live in Illinois.

For a 100% thorough Op-Ed contact Tim or Kim Sundles via their Buffalo Bore e-mail addresses, they do answer such questions, and went through the Africa censorship manure with their SL system maneuvering.

 

[Marcus Vonier]

Did some digging on this. There is a regulatory standoff between Starlink and the Namibian gov over ownership laws which requires the company to be at least 51% owned by Namibian citizens. Since March 23 of this year, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) declined Starlink's application for a telecommunications license. Resulting in Starlink geofencing the country to comply with their legal rejection.

Details on the Block:
1. 51% citizen ownership rule: Under section 46 of the Namibian Communications Act of 2009, any company seeking a telecommunications license must be at least 51% owned by Namibian citizens. Starlink's corporate policy prohibits local equity sharing, so they were denied an exemption from this rule.
2. Failed Statutory Criteria: Starlink only met 3 out of 6 CRAN's mandatory requirements. Namibian's regulator cited concerns over national security and general compliance frameworks.
3. Enforcement Actions: In 2024, CRAN issued a formal order for Starlink to halt all operations and warned that unauthorized terminals could be confiscated, as using the without a license is considered a criminal offense under Namibian law.

Starlink's explanation:

Starlink

starlink.com

 

[Mike Z]

I casually looked into how this works and ways to bypass it. The Starlink device has its own GPS that reports location via it's own satellite uplink. Basically, it phones home and says "Hey, I'm in Namibia, can you pull up OnlyFans?" and then HQ shuts it down.

GPS spoofing/jamming/and modification are likely vectors for bypassing the restriction, but the device can perform it's own form of GPS using whatever Starlink satellites are up above.

Can you make the Starlink think it's in neighboring Botswana/Angola/SA? Potentially. But this would be very difficult and it still might not work.

The secondary Starlink version of GPS is so that devices can operate in GPS denied environments like Ukraine and other places where GPS is jammed or otherwise unreliable.

 

[Marcus Vonier]

I casually looked into how this works and ways to bypass it. The Starlink device has its own GPS that reports location via it's own satellite uplink. Basically, it phones home and says "Hey, I'm in Namibia, can you pull up OnlyFans?" and then HQ shuts it down.

GPS spoofing/jamming/and modification are likely vectors for bypassing the restriction, but the device can perform it's own form of GPS using whatever Starlink satellites are up above.

Can you make the Starlink think it's in neighboring Botswana/Angola/SA? Potentially. But this would be very difficult and it still might not work.

The secondary Starlink version of GPS is so that devices can operate in GPS denied environments like Ukraine and other places where GPS is jammed or otherwise unreliable.

Sounds like a valid in field test for OnlyFans

 

[Els]

Interestingly enough I know that my Garmin InReach works there. They dont like Elon. In SA its even worse with their BEE requirement.

 

[Mike Schoby]

Interesting - thanks for the intel. That is what I kinds guessed - Starlink geofenced themselves to comply with Namibia regulations to avoid fines. There is no way Nam or RSA would have the technology to block them if they wanted to operate there.

 

[Milo'sSyndicate]

Well, you can lead a cape buffalo to water, but you can't make em drink......