Starlink has paused sales of its residential internet kits in several of Nigeria’s busiest cities after hitting network capacity. Areas in Lagos such as Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos Island, Surulere, and parts of Abuja are now marked “Sold Out” on its website.
New customers in these locations can only join a waitlist by placing a deposit. They will be notified once more capacity is added. A test subscription attempt in Chevyville Estate, Lekki, returned the notice: “Starlink service is currently at capacity in your area. However, the good news is you can still place a deposit now to reserve your spot on the waitlist and receive a notification as soon as service becomes available again.”
Starlink previously suspended orders across Nigeria in November 2024, citing limited bandwidth and pending approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Orders only resumed in June 2025 after infrastructure upgrades and regulatory clearance.
An engineer familiar with operations said the pauses are intentional: “It happens when the area cannot take a new customer due to its designed capacity at the time. This also ensures optimal network connectivity for the other users within the same geographical area.”
Capacity constraints are not the company’s only challenge. Since its launch, subscription costs have climbed sharply. Monthly fees rose from around ₦38,000 ($25.33) to about ₦56,000 ($37) in 2025, with Starlink pointing to naira devaluation, rising costs, and regulatory compliance.
The hikes triggered backlash and temporary regulatory intervention, delaying activations into mid-2025. Subscriber numbers soon fell. NCC data shows active users dropped from 65,564 in Q4 2024 to 59,509 in Q1 2025, a decline of more than 6,000. Analysts tied the drop to price increases, economic strain, and service pauses. Many users switched providers or left altogether.
