Paratus Uganda Launches Starlink LEO Satellite Service

In Short

• Paratus Uganda has launched Starlink’s low earth orbit satellite service in Uganda.
• The company says it is the first provider in the country to bring Starlink to market.
• The offer is aimed at enterprise customers that need reliable internet in remote locations.

What Happened

Paratus Uganda announced it has become the first provider in Uganda to launch Starlink’s low earth orbit, or LEO, satellite service. LEO satellites orbit closer to Earth than traditional satellites, which can reduce lag, also called latency.

The launch follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding and an operational licence agreement between the Uganda Communications Commission and Starlink. Paratus says the agreement was signed on May 15, 2026.

Paratus Uganda was formed last year through a joint venture between Paratus Group and local ISP ROKE TELKOM. The company has been selling cross-border connectivity using its 2,000 km protected Goma-to-Mombasa route, a redundant fibre path designed to stay up even when one link fails.

By adding Starlink, Paratus Uganda says it can offer an integrated package. That includes satellite connectivity, terrestrial fibre across the region, and redundancy services for failover, meaning a backup connection that takes over when the main line drops.

Paratus says it is already activating a customer pipeline across mining, healthcare, tourism, NGOs, and government. These sectors often operate in areas without dependable fibre or mobile coverage.

Why It Matters

For businesses outside major cities, last-mile connectivity is often the weak link. Starlink via Paratus gives enterprises another option when fibre buildouts are slow or too expensive.

The announcement also signals broader satellite competition in African enterprise telecoms. Paratus Group says Uganda is its ninth African market offering Starlink services, and it is positioning satellite as part of a multi-layer network strategy across the continent.

If uptake is strong, more Ugandan enterprises could shift from single-link connectivity to multi-path setups that combine fibre and satellite. That can improve uptime for cloud apps, remote monitoring, and digital public services.