WINDHOEK, June 23 – Namibia’s communications regulator has dismissed Starlink’s appeal against the rejection of its licence applications, maintaining that Elon Musk’s satellite internet company did not meet the country’s local ownership requirements.
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) said Starlink’s applications for a telecommunications service licence and radio spectrum access were originally rejected in March because they did not comply with the ownership and control provisions set out in the Communications Act.
In a statement, the regulator said Starlink’s application remained non compliant with Section 46 of the Communications Act, No. 8 of 2009. It also noted that the company’s request for reconsideration was submitted after the legal deadline, which expired on April 23.
CRAN said it received a total of 624 requests asking it to review its decision. However, 622 of those submissions were dismissed because they did not meet the required procedural and jurisdictional conditions.
According to the regulator, the remaining two submissions met the required threshold but did not present any new facts or point to any material error in the original decision.
As a result, CRAN said there was no legal or factual basis to change its earlier ruling and confirmed that the rejection of Starlink’s licence applications remains in place.
