Elon Musk-owned internet company, Starlink has recommended two alternative payment channels for Nigerians to order its hardware.
According to the company, Nigerians can use either Payday or barter, which are platforms that allow people to create virtual dollar cards and fund them with naira.
The recommendation may have been prompted by the inability of many Nigerians to complete their orders after getting to the payment stage. With the suspension of international transactions on naira cards, only those who have dollar cards can make payments for Starlink, even though the price is quoted in naira.
However, while Payday is still actively providing the service and has been latching onto Starlink’s operation in Nigeria to promote its service, Barter, which is a service offered by Flutterwave was shut down in July last year.
Barter set to come back: Nairametrics understands that the listing of Flutterwave’s Barter as one of the alternatives may be a result of a recent announcement that the service is being revamped to come back stronger and better. In an email on 31 January, Flutterwave notified its customers of its decision to rebuild the platform for improved efficiency and user-friendliness.
- It said the product team is working on a brand-new version of Barter with enhanced features to deliver a better customer experience.
- A visit to the Barter website also shows a pop-up message that indicates that the service is being revamped. It further notes that while customers can’t create an account at the moment, they can join a waitlist to get early access.
In case you missed it:
- Although Starlink officially announced its presence in Nigeria in January this year, Nigerians have been pre-ordering its hardware since last year. The company, which initially quoted its prices in dollars at $600 for the hardware and $43 for the subscription, changed to naira upon its official announcement.
- However, while the amount quoted in naira appears cheaper compared to the dollar quotes, at N268,584 for the hardware and N19,260 for monthly subscriptions, Nigerians are paying far higher than that because they are still being charged in dollars and they have to source dollars at the black-market rate to fund their cards.
- Despite the price, a number of Nigerians have acquired Starlink and have been showing it off on social media and sharing their speed experience of the service. Most users have been getting between 50Mbps and 230Mbps download speeds depending on their areas.
Source: Nairametrics
