Starlink for Nigerian Businesses: Real Costs, Speeds & Performance Review

Starlink for Nigerian Businesses: Who It Actually Makes Sense For

Internet connectivity in Nigeria is still a business constraint. Your fiber line goes down during a client presentation. The 4G backup you’re paying for crawls at 2 Mbps during peak hours. You lose hours each week to connectivity issues that competitors in other countries never have to deal with.

Starlink for Nigerian businesses launched in 2023, and the promise was compelling: satellite internet that works anywhere, with speeds that actually compete with fiber. Two years later, we finally have enough real-world data to make a call.

What Starlink Actually Costs in Nigeria

Let’s start with the numbers that matter.

Hardware: ₦590,000 for the standard kit or ₦318,000 for the Mini. This is a one-time cost that includes the satellite dish, Wi-Fi router, mounting equipment, power supply, and cables.

Monthly subscription: ₦57,000 as of May 2025. Pricing has risen from the initial ₦38,000 to ₦57,000.

Total first-year cost: ₦1,274,000 (standard kit) or ₦1,002,000 (Mini kit).

Starlink at a glance:

• Download: typically 80-150 Mbps in major cities
• Upload: up to ~25 Mbps (large uploads can be slow vs downloads)
• Latency: roughly 40-70 ms
• Power draw: about 50-75 W continuous
• Setup: under 1 hour with a clear view of the northern sky

TL;DR for busy teams:

• In well-served Lagos/Abuja/PH locations with solid fiber, stay on fiber and add disciplined failover.
• If your area’s fiber/4G is flaky or you run mobile/temporary sites, Starlink’s premium buys predictable capacity.
• As backup in cities, Starlink often pays for itself if last year’s outage losses topped ~₦700k.

Note on pricing: All prices in this article are current as of publication. ISP pricing in Nigeria changes frequently due to inflation and regulatory adjustments. We recommend confirming current rates directly with providers before making purchase decisions.

Starlink operates in Nigeria under NCC oversight; businesses should continue to follow standard site installation, mast, and estate rules where applicable.

So why would any business pay this much when traditional fiber costs a fraction of that?

Starlink vs. the Nigerian ISP Landscape: What Are Your Real Options?

Before deciding if Starlink is worth it, let’s be honest about what else is available. The Nigerian internet market has changed significantly since Starlink launched in 2023. You now have real alternatives, depending on your location.

The Quick Reality Check

Here’s the situation: Starlink costs ₦1.27 million in year one. Traditional fiber ISPs cost ₦300,000-400,000 for the same period. 5G options from Airtel and MTN sit in the middle for year-one costs at ₦325,000-500,000.

The question isn’t just about price. It’s about what works in your location and for your usage, and whether “unlimited” means what you think it does.

Truly Unlimited vs “Unlimited”

Not all unlimited plans are actually unlimited in Nigeria. This matters more than you might think.

Actually unlimited (no throttling, no caps):

• Starlink
• FiberOne (fiber to the home in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ilorin)
• ipNX (premium fiber, same cities)
• Tizeti (solar-powered wireless in Lagos, Rivers, Edo, Ogun)

Use 500GB or 5TB per month; your speed remains constant. No surprises.

“Unlimited” that throttles after you hit limits:

• Airtel 5G: Reports suggest 2GB daily cap, then drops to 64 Kbps (varies by location and plan)
• MTN 5G: FUP varies by plan, throttles after threshold
• Spectranet: 60GB to 1TB monthly caps depending on plan (they’re Nigeria’s most subscribed ISP with over 103,000 users, but all plans throttle)

Here’s why this matters for business: A 10-person team running Teams calls daily uses about 15-20GB per day. On Spectranet’s cheapest plan (60GB monthly FUP), you’d hit the cap in 3-4 days. Your internet becomes unusable for the rest of the month.

The 5G Reality in Nigeria

MTN and Airtel’s 5G marketing sounds impressive. The reality is more complicated.

MTN 5G hardware costs ₦60,000-₦80,000. They advertise speeds up to 800 Mbps. Users typically get 50-200 Mbps when 5G is available. The catch? Even in “covered” areas like Lekki, users report getting 5G signal only 60% of the time. The rest of the time, you’re on 4G getting 10-40 Mbps.

Airtel 5G SmartConnect is more interesting. At ₦25,000 for hardware and installation, it’s the cheapest entry point. Monthly plans are ₦25,000 for 50 Mbps or ₦45,000 for 100 Mbps. But users report daily throttling after 2GB usage. For businesses running constant video calls, that’s not practical.

Coverage for both is limited to select areas in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. If you’re anywhere else, you’re on 4G.

Fiber ISPs: Still the Best Value for Fixed Locations

If you’re in Lagos, Abuja, or Port Harcourt with good fiber coverage, traditional ISPs offer better economics than Starlink.

FiberOne is Nigeria’s largest fiber-to-the-home provider with over 38,000 customers. Plans range from ₦11,994/month for 16 Mbps to ₦31,754/month for 65 Mbps. Installation costs vary from ₦44,820 to ₦ 97,500, depending on your city. They’re expanding to 15 states.

User feedback is mixed. Some report excellent service. Others report 2-3-day outages. This is the problem with fiber service anywhere in Nigeria: when it works, it’s great. When your street’s cable is damaged, you’re offline until it’s repaired.

ipNX costs more (₦12,900 – ₦ 62,350/month) but is known for premium reliability and the lowest latency. If you’re trading or gaming where milliseconds matter, this is the option for you.

Tizeti is unique. They use solar-powered towers, which means less disruption during power outages. At ₦17,500/month, they’re very competitive. The downside is ₦100,000 installation cost. They cover Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, and Edo.

Spectranet has the widest coverage (Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan) and uses 4G LTE, not fiber. Plans range from ₦18,500 to ₦ 61,500/month. Every plan has FUP limits that throttle your speed after you exceed your monthly cap. They’re reliable for moderate usage, but not ideal for businesses with heavy data needs.

What the Numbers Actually Mean for Your Business

Let’s talk about what you need to run Microsoft 365 properly.

Microsoft recommends about 2 Mbps per user for general Teams usage, including audio, video, and screen sharing. For HD video calls specifically, you need 1.2-1.5 Mbps per participant. A 15-person team with several concurrent HD meetings would need roughly 50-75 Mbps of total bandwidth.

Most Nigerian fiber options (FiberOne 30 Mbps, ipNX 30 Mbps) can theoretically handle this. The problem is reliability. When fiber goes down, and you fall back to 4G at 10-20 Mbps, your entire team is either offline or limping along with one person per meeting.

Starlink’s 80-150 Mbps handles full team operations without degradation. It doesn’t go down because someone’s digging in your street. Heavy rain slows speeds, but service typically remains usable.

The real question is whether predictable capacity is worth a 3-5x premium.

First-Year Cost Reality Check

Here’s what you’ll spend in year one (approx., city-dependent):

• Spectranet: ₦272,000 (but with FUP throttling)
• FiberOne: ₦308,820 (truly unlimited, but outage risk)
• Tizeti: ₦310,000 (truly unlimited, solar-powered)
• Airtel 5G: ₦325,000 (fast but daily throttling)
• ipNX: ₦399,000 (premium reliability)
• MTN 5G: ₦500,000 (spotty 5G coverage)
• Starlink: ₦1,274,000 (works everywhere, truly unlimited)

The price gap is real. The question is whether what you get justifies it.

Who Should Actually Consider Starlink?

Starlink makes sense if:

• You’re in an area where fiber doesn’t reach or is unreliable
• You run multiple locations and want standardized connectivity
• Internet downtime directly costs you money (client-facing operations, e-commerce, remote teams)
• You need predictable bandwidth for video conferencing and cloud applications
• You’re setting up temporary or mobile operations

Starlink probably doesn’t make sense if:

• You’re in Lagos/Abuja/PH with reliable fiber access
• You run a small operation with light internet needs
• Your business can tolerate occasional downtime
• Budget is tight, and traditional options work adequately

The math changes significantly if you’re comparing Starlink as backup versus primary. As backup, you’re comparing ₦684,000 annually against your actual downtime costs.

The Real-World Considerations Nobody Tells You

Beyond the subscription fee, several costs catch businesses by surprise:

Power requirements:

Starlink draws 50-75 watts continuously. That doesn’t sound like much until you factor in Nigeria’s power situation.

Running on grid power? No problem. Running on inverter? You’ll need capacity for this plus your other equipment. Running on generator? Factor in fuel costs for 24/7 operation.

For reference, running Starlink on an inverter requires roughly 600-900Wh daily. If you’re already running computers, printers, and other office equipment on backup power, Starlink adds a meaningful load.

Mounting and installation:

The dish needs a clear view of the northern sky. In Lagos, where buildings are tightly packed, this often means roof-mounted installations. You might need to hire someone to do this properly. Budget ₦15,000-30,000 for professional installation if you’re not comfortable climbing on roofs.

Surge protection:

Power fluctuations in Nigeria can damage electronics. Starlink equipment isn’t cheap to replace. Invest in a quality surge protector. Budget ₦10,000-20,000 for proper protection.

Weather considerations:

Heavy rain degrades the signal. You’ll still have internet, but your 150 Mbps might drop to 40-60 Mbps during a downpour. For most businesses, this is fine. For operations that must maintain full 24/7 capacity, you need backup.

Equipment security:

The dish sits on your roof or exterior wall. In some areas, this equipment represents a theft risk. Factor security considerations into your mounting location decision.

Making the Math Work

Here’s how to think about the cost analysis:

Small business (5-10 employees):

• Traditional fiber: ₦15,000-30,000 monthly
• Starlink: ₦57,000 monthly + ₦590,000 upfront
• Break-even consideration: Only makes sense if you’re in an underserved area or downtime costs you money

Medium business (15-50 employees):

• Traditional fiber: ₦30,000-60,000 monthly
• Starlink: ₦57,000 monthly + ₦590,000 upfront
• Break-even consideration: Makes sense if fiber reliability is poor or you need the bandwidth

Multiple locations:

• Per-location fiber: ₦40,000-60,000 monthly
• Per-location Starlink: ₦57,000 monthly
• Break-even consideration: Often worthwhile for standardization and reliability

Downtime calculation:

If internet downtime costs your business ₦200,000 per incident and you experience 4 incidents per year, you’re losing ₦800,000 annually. Starlink’s ₦684,000 annual cost (₦57,000 x 12) plus amortized hardware costs looks reasonable.

Multiply your typical revenue loss per hour by last year’s outage hours. If the total exceeds ₦700k, Starlink typically covers the cost as a backup.

What Nigerian Users Are Actually Experiencing

Two years into Starlink’s Nigerian rollout, users have shared their experiences:

Fisayo Fosudo, a tech reviewer who tested Starlink in Lagos, reported consistent download speeds matching Starlink’s 50-200 Mbps promise, with occasional speeds exceeding 200 Mbps. However, he noted that upload speeds are “manageable” but limited to around 25 Mbps. “We tried uploading a 24GB file, and we were waiting for over 2 days,” he shared on social media.

Another Lagos-based user reported that setup took just five minutes. On speed, he noted that “when it comes to wireless, nothing comes close to Starlink speed currently” in Nigeria. He mentioned that users on video calls (Zoom, gaming, video conferences) might experience 60-90 second disconnections during 90-minute sessions, while streaming and regular browsing work without issues.

Multiple users across Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt have reported consistently positive experiences with the service. The main complaints center on the high cost relative to Nigerian incomes and occasional weather-related disruptions during heavy rain.

The pattern is clear: Starlink delivers the speeds it promises, setup is genuinely simple, but upload speeds and weather sensitivity are real limitations to consider.

Before You Buy Starlink

☐ Confirm clear northern sky on your roof or mast
☐ Plan mounting and basic lightning surge protection
☐ Size your inverter or generator for an extra 50-75 W
☐ Decide primary vs backup role and set router failover rules
☐ Assign someone to monitor usage, uptime, and monthly costs
☐ Test automatic failover monthly so it actually kicks in during an outage

Is Starlink Worth It for Nigerian Businesses?

The answer depends entirely on your situation.

For many Nigerian businesses, Starlink isn’t replacing traditional fiber. It’s supplementing it. Companies are using fiber as the primary connection, where it’s reliable, and Starlink as backup, where it’s not. Others are using Starlink as a primary source in locations where fiber doesn’t reach.

The technology works. The speeds are real. The question is whether the cost makes sense for your specific situation. Run the numbers based on your location, your reliability requirements, and what downtime actually costs your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Planning your IT infrastructure? Connectivity is just one piece of building reliable, scalable infrastructure for your business. At PlanetWeb Solutions, we design, implement, and maintain IT infrastructure systems tailored to Nigerian business needs. From network management and cloud capabilities to disaster recovery and security, we create the foundation your business needs to grow.

As you consider the future of IT solutions for your Nigerian business, connectivity decisions such as Starlink versus traditional fiber are part of a broader infrastructure strategy that positions your business for sustainable growth.

Explore our IT Infrastructure Services