Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE residential areas and Central Business District have hit maximum high-speed satellite internet network capacity amid surging local demand, with unscrupulous service providers now resorting to fake outlying addresses to register new subscribers – a practice threatening to collapse reliable and fast internet service in the provincial capital.
Investigations by The Manica Post revealed that demand for satellite internet in Mutare has reached unprecedented levels, exposing critical flaws in regional digital infrastructure.
Industry findings show that satellite internet was never designed to service densely populated urban areas, yet unscrupulous providers are circumventing system limits by registering users under false rural addresses to bypass capacity controls.
The trend has pushed the network to saturation point, and is now raising serious questions about the sustainability of internet provision in the province’s economic hub.
An attempt to order Starlink from the pre-order platform using a Zimta Park, Mutare address returns the response: “Due to high demand in your area, only Priority Plans are available in your area – see options here.”
The only available option is: “Reliable high-speed internet for businesses. Starting at $55/month with a hardware cost of $349,” a package meant for commercial users.
Although Mutare has not yet experienced the same severe congestion reported in Harare, industry observers warn that growing demand from households, schools, mines, hospitals and businesses could soon place considerable pressure on capacity in the eastern border city.
Experts explained that Starlink operates by dividing regions into service cells, with each cell having limited bandwidth, and as subscriber numbers rise, internet speeds may decline during peak periods unless additional satellites and ground infrastructure are deployed.
Since SpaceX’s Starlink officially rolled out in Zimbabwe, adoption rates have shattered expectations, and Mutare is no exception.
While Harare and Bulawayo experienced immediate capacity caps, and temporary freezes on residential kits, Mutare is now feeling the squeeze as businesses and tech-savvy households move away from erratic terrestrial connections.
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) Director-General, Dr Gift Machengete, said: “It is given that satellite broadband capacity has its own limitations. Satellite was never designed for highly populated areas. Trying to use satellite for urban areas is just not feasible. The practice of purchasing a satellite terminal using a rural address and then transferring it to an urban area can lead to congestion and poor service delivery. If the satellite service provider does not implement some form of geo-fencing, then there is a high probability of experiencing poor service delivery due to congestion in some areas.
“The separation of services into residential and business is a common practice among all IAPs. Equally the issue of capacity being fully utilised is a reality that has also been felt in Harare, Bulawayo and other major cities. And indeed in order to maintain good quality of service there is a need for some geo-fencing, the same which is applied by the likes of Liquid in their LTE service which is localised to a base station. Until such a time Starlink upgrades its capacity, challenges of users failing to get the Starlink Mini kits will continue. There is nothing unethical about registering a Starlink Mini kit in an address out of the city in question, but it is all because of the capacity that is full. Had it been that the capacity is not full, but Starlink is forcing users to have business subscriptions, then we would say that’s discriminatory and not allowed by the law.”
Director of Techsham Investments, Mr Gerald Boka, said: “For years, residents and corporate entities in Mutare faced limited broadband options, often constrained by high costs, slow speeds, and vulnerability to copper cable vandalism and power outages. The arrival of Starlink changed the landscape dramatically, offering download speeds frequently exceeding 150 Mbps.
“Local entrepreneurs, hospitality providers along the Eastern Highlands tourism corridor, and educational institutions have increasingly turned to satellite dishes to power their daily operations. According to recent data from the POTRAZ, national VSAT subscriptions – dominated largely by Starlink – have scaled past tens of thousands, capturing a massive slice of the country’s fixed internet traffic. However, this rapid influx has raised legitimate concerns regarding regional network capacity. Industry analysts point out that satellite internet relies on localised beam capacity. When too many users access the network within a specific geographic cell without proportional orbital upgrades, network congestion can occur during peak hours.”
For Mutare, bridging the digital divide will depend heavily on whether network capacity can scale swiftly enough to meet demand from a population eager to get online.
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