Liberia has signed a one-year licensing agreement with tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, in a bid to boost coverage across the poorly connected West African state.
Internet coverage in Liberia currently stands at around 60 percent, acting chairman of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), Abdullah L. Kamara, told journalists at the signing of the agreement Thursday.
The aim is to push that number towards 100 percent with the help of the Starlink deal, he added.
“Every village, town, and even your farm can have access to internet” thanks to the agreement, said Kamara said. The event was livestreamed on the LTA Facebook page.
Starlink’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites can provide internet to remote locations or areas that normal communications infrastructure do not reach.
