Haitians turn to Starlink for wireless internet, despite its cloudy presence | PROSPERITY, PILFERED

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Brunine Pointe-Jour, a computer scientist based in Port-Salut, often suffered headaches a few years ago because she feared not being hired by Energir due to her slow internet connection. Pointe-Jour constantly dropped during virtual meetings and was not able to handle her tasks rapidly while she was on trial with the Canadian energy company.

Frustrated, Pointe-Jour turned to Starlink, Elon Musk’s high-speed satellite internet. Pointe-Jour’s university, Ecole Supérieure d’Infotronique d’Haïti (ESIH), purchased a Starlink dish for her for approximately $500 after she told the school in July 2023 that she struggled at work due to internet issues. With this more reliable internet access, not only has she landed her first computer scientist job, but she is still working for Energir two years later. 

“Starlink changed my life,” Pointe-Jour said during a phone interview with The Haitian Times in April 2025. “Big thank you to Starlink and Elon Musk for this invention.”  

Since offering its services to the Haitian market in 2023, Starlink has quickly become the go-to for reliable, dependable internet access after years of struggling with Natcom, Digicel and others. Yet, in a land where chaos and corruption reign, Starlink is a bowl of disorder in Haiti, according to customers and business observers. From its satellite dish being smuggled from the Dominican Republic to businesses charging $400 more for the equipment and to the company operating without a contract in the country, the lack of regulation surrounding the company’s operation has raised questions. 

Experts say its operation highlights the need for more laws to regulate internet governance and underscores the need for transparency in the market system.

Telecommunications in Haiti are mainly regulated by the Conseil National des Télécommunications (CONATEL) agency under an outdated, state-centered framework established by decrees from 1969 and 1977. Since 1987, the Haitian government has taken several steps to adapt to changes. However, while CONATEL issues licenses and monitors compliance, the legal framework has struggled to keep pace with modern digital standards, often favoring state-owned interests such as Natcom (formerly Teleco), although recent efforts seek to modernize regulations.

“Everything in Haiti is in disarray because the State is weak,” said Jeremie Joseph, 24, a Cap-Haïtien resident whose family owns a Starlink dish.

“[Musk] came to a house where things are all over the place, there’s no regulation, nothing,” Joseph added. “He still has to do his business, and when doing that, he will be all over the place too. That’s not on him, that’s on the State.”

Starlink’s murky arrival  

Starlink started operating in Haiti in March 2023, with authorization from CONATEL. It is unknown how many users it has in the country. However, as of early 2025, there were approximately 4.65 million internet users overall in Haiti, according to Data Reportal.

Starlink has revolutionized internet connectivity in Haiti, with a median download speed of 41.73 Mbps in the last quarter of 2023, compared with 10.66 Mbps in 2022 before the company entered the market, according to Ookla. In addition to its speed, Starlink is reliable, as its connection in Haiti experienced only one major shutdown during a global outage on July 24, caused by the failure of key internal software services, which lasted 2.5 hours.

One reason residents believe Starlink is running suspiciously is that it is operating through another internet provider’s contract, Access Haiti, a private telecommunications company based in Pétion-ville, sources have said. Details of the contract are not available to the public as of this writing. 

Starlink and Access Haiti have yet to reply to multiple emails requesting an interview for this article. Conatel initially replied to The Haitian Times, asking for a list of questions prior to the interview, but later stopped communicating.

Haiti is not the only country where Starlink operates without its own contract. It also lacks a contract in the Dominican Republic but has a license to operate that is not publicly available. However, in some other countries like Nigeria, Starlink has a partnership agreement with the government, but this is not accessible to the public.

Smuggling, steep fees and rogue installers part of retail service 

Setting up Starlink comes with a host of dubious — often criminal — activities, customers say.

For one, the dish is being smuggled from the Dominican Republic, residents have said. In October 2023, for example, Dominican soldiers from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFRONT) unit seized 54 Starlink antennas at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border among a trove of contraband, according to IciHaiti.

The sale of dishes is also not regulated. Hundreds of sellers have been providing Starlink’s 20-inch rectangle-shaped antenna without authorization, charging between $500 to $800 for an item that costs $389 retail, customers have complained.

Installation costs are another matter. Some installers charge $150 for the simple act of plugging the antenna’s cord into a wall and placing it on a rooftop to face the sky. 

One Cap-Haïtien resident, an affluent landowner, told The Haitian Times that a technician hired to install Starlink at his home also put cameras on his property without his knowledge. That experience, he said, highlights the need for professional, credible workers to install and service the equipment — similar to Starlink field offices he has seen in countries like the Dominican Republic and France.

Despite these issues, many residents find Starlink to be one of the most useful resources in Haiti — coming at a time when Haiti desperately needed it. Computer scientists in particular say they have been able to work for organizations overseas, partly because Starlink has made their internet access reliable.

“Haiti needs Starlink now, especially because a lot of people are working online, and without it they can’t do anything,” Joseph said. “No other companies are providing adequate services. The only thing preventing Starlink from taking over in Haiti is the cost of its material.”

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