Starlink’s suspension pushes Senegal to rewrite its satellite rulebook 🛰️ 🇸🇳

Cliquez ici pour lire en français

Senegal’s telecom regulator, the Autorité de régulation des télécommunications et des postes (ARTP), has opened a public consultation on how to regulate a sector being reshaped by new technologies and new players. Launched on September 30, 2026, and open until October 21, the consultation is meant to gather views from the digital industry, user associations and the general public.

The ARTP asks the digital sector to weigh in 📡

The consultation falls under Article 208 of Law No. 2018-28 of December 12, 2018, which established Senegal’s Electronic Communications Code. The ARTP wants feedback on a study covering the outlook for electronic communications and the regulation of new players and emerging technologies.

Contributions can address all or part of the document. Interested parties must submit comments by 6 p.m. Dakar time (GMT), which is 7 p.m. in Yaoundé, on October 21, 2026, at the address given by the regulator.

Satellite is raising new questions 🛰️

The review comes as demand for connectivity grows across Africa and infrastructure gaps persist in some areas. Both factors have helped satellite services take off. In Senegal, the arrival of new players, most visibly Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, is pushing authorities to ask whether the current rules still fit.

Traditional telecom operators, meanwhile, have voiced reservations, questioning how these newcomers get market access and under what conditions they operate. The ARTP’s study therefore covers the sector’s growth outlook, the regulation of operators, and the oversight of platforms and emerging technologies.

Which regime for satellite operators? 📜

A central question is which regime should apply to satellite operators. The ARTP is putting several options to stakeholders, including a license, an authorization or a simple declaration.

The regulator also wants to define the criteria that would set this regime apart from the one governing terrestrial operators. That distinction matters because both types of player can now offer similar connectivity services.

Satellite and terrestrial networks will have to coexist 🔗

The consultation also covers how satellite and terrestrial operators relate to each other. The ARTP is weighing whether to regulate distribution agreements, capacity resale, hybrid offers, infrastructure sharing and the use of satellite for backhaul, the link that carries traffic from mobile towers to an operator’s core network.

The regulator is also asking whether satellite operators should be required to cooperate with, or complement, terrestrial networks. The alternative would be to let those relationships evolve through market forces alone. Either way, the future framework could shape how satellite technology and terrestrial infrastructure work together.

Obligations for satellite operators still need defining ⚙️

The obligations that should apply to satellite operators are another strand of the review. The ARTP is considering whether to impose requirements on coverage, quality of service, data localization and local presence.

These questions arise at a time when terrestrial operators already carry a range of regulatory obligations. The future framework will have to set rules for newcomers while accounting for how their technology differs from terrestrial networks.

It will also have to define how frequencies are coordinated and interference is managed, working with ANACIM, Senegal’s civil aviation and meteorology agency. The ARTP also wants to identify foreign experiences that could be adapted to the Senegalese market.

Incumbent operators push back on the terms 🏢

Those reservations surfaced as early as February 2026. The Coordination of Telecom Operators’ Unions, which includes organizations from Sonatel (Senegal’s largest operator), Yas and Expresso, asked for explanations about how the newcomer entered the Senegalese market.

The unions questioned, among other things, the operating regime granted to Starlink, its license conditions and the financial counterparts tied to its authorization. They also argued that the regulatory framework should be adapted to the specifics of satellite operators. The secretary general of Sonatel’s workers’ union had floated an entry fee of 30 billion CFA francs, about $51.4 million.

The debate moves to court ⚖️

The dispute over Starlink’s operating conditions then moved to the courts. In its appeal against the authorization granted to the newcomer, Sonatel highlights the obligations and costs borne by terrestrial operators.

The company says it paid 100 billion CFA francs in entry fees and license charges, plus 34.5 billion CFA francs for 5G. It also cites obligations on coverage, universal service (serving less profitable areas too), quality of service and interconnection (linking the networks of different operators), as well as its contributions to the Telecommunications Universal Service Development Fund (FDSUT).

Sonatel also argues, according to the claims in its appeal, that Starlink’s authorization does not set equivalent obligations on certain fees, interconnection or local access. It says this difference in treatment could distort competition.

The suspension reopens the regulatory question 🔎

Senegal’s Supreme Court ordered a provisional suspension of Starlink’s authorization on September 7, 2026. It found that the arguments raised could create serious doubt about the decision’s legality. This is a stopgap measure: the case has not yet been decided on the merits.

The court fight now lines up directly with the questions the ARTP is putting to the industry. The consultation is meant to feed the thinking on rules for satellite operators and, more broadly, for new connectivity technologies.

Senegal is trying to update its regulatory framework to reflect a sector in transition, new entrants, and the coexistence of satellite and terrestrial infrastructure. The open question is where to set the dial between openness to innovation and a level playing field.

How should Senegal regulate satellite operators while encouraging innovation and keeping competition fair with terrestrial carriers? Tell us in the comments.