{"id":167,"date":"2026-01-03T11:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/167\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T11:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T11:50:12","slug":"starlink-disables-satellite-internet-terminals-in-uganda-after-government-complaint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/167\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlink Disables Satellite Internet Terminals in Uganda after Government Complaint"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Starlink has officially disabled all satellite internet terminals operating in Uganda, following a directive from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) regarding the \u201cillegal provision\u201d of telecommunication services.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter dated January 2, 2026, addressed to the UCC Executive Director, Starlink confirmed that it has implemented a \u201cnew service restriction tool\u201d to ensure no terminals remain active within the country\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n<p>Response to \u201cIllegal\u201d Operations<\/p>\n<p>The move comes as a direct response to a UCC order issued on New Year\u2019s Day. Starlink clarified that while their hardware was being used in Uganda, the company itself had not yet begun official operations or marketing in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarlink Uganda itself is not selling or marketing satellite internet services in Uganda because it is not yet licensed by the UCC,\u201d wrote Ben MacWilliams, Director of Starlink Market Access.<\/p>\n<p>The company pinned the blame on unauthorised imports, stating that users had purchased kits in licensed countries and brought them into Uganda privately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny Starlink usage in Uganda was without our approval or consent and in violation of our terms of service,\u201d the letter stated. \u201cAs of 01 January 2026, no Starlink terminals are operating in Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Seeking a Legal Path Forward<\/p>\n<p>Despite the immediate blackout for current users, Starlink signalled that this is a strategic move to secure a long-term, legal presence in the Ugandan market. The company emphasised its desire to play by the rules as it nears the end of the official licensing process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarlink is committed to cooperating with the UCC\u2019s regulatory requirements as we work to complete the licensing process in Uganda,\u201d MacWilliams noted. \u201cWe appreciate your partnership and look forward to Starlink\u2019s future in Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-125827\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0511dbcd-ef86-4842-8112-ba7ba8f4300b-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Starlink has officially disabled all satellite internet terminals operating in Uganda, following a directive from the Uganda Communications&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[185,186,187,188,189,190,191,153],"class_list":{"0":"post-167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-ben-macwilliams","9":"tag-satellite-internet-terminals","10":"tag-softpower","11":"tag-softpower-news","12":"tag-starlink","13":"tag-top-uganda-news","14":"tag-ucc","15":"tag-uganda"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}