by Nurat Uthman
Some Sudanese who have been experiencing weeks long network disruptions due to the ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, report using Starlink satellite connections to access the internet, as regular coverage slowly returns to other parts of the country.
The network blackout that began in early February has prevented people from buying essential goods including scarce supplies of food. It has also blocked communication between displaced relatives and hampered aid deliveries.
In the Karari district of Omdurman, where SAF has made recent advances against the RSF and has provided some satellite access to residents, people crowded around a Starlink access point to connect their mobile phones.
“People need connection, they need it badly,” said Amal Abdu, a resident of Omdurman.
“Every day we’re told there will be connection today or tomorrow and it doesn’t happen. People here learn about the death of their father or brother one or two weeks after they die,” Abdu added.
Fighting has caused extensive damage to the banking system and many people have depended on the Bank of Khartoum’s Bankak mobile application to transfer money and make payments.
“People don’t have cash, there’s no cash in the country, we want to use Bankak and we can’t log in,” Abdu said.
Telecoms industry sources previously blamed the RSF for shutting down networks after threatening to do so unless the army restored disabled connections in the western region of Darfur.
State owned Sudani has restored coverage in parts of Sudan, but swathes of the country, including the capital and most of Darfur, remain cut off.
A second provider, Zain, was able to bring back some very limited provision last week.
People in areas with no mobile connections have increasingly tried to use Elon Musk’s Starlink, a satellite service not normally authorized in the Northeast African nation.
The satellite service is also costly for ordinary Sudanese at about $2.5 for an hour of access.
“The latest thing we tried is Starlink but there are a lot of people and there’s a lot of pressure on it, not everyone manages to get connection,” said another Karari resident who gave his first name, Mohamed.
Fighting between Sudan’s rival forces erupted in mid-April 2023 over tensions linked to a planned political transition and has led to a major humanitarian crisis and spreading hunger.
Nearly 6.5 million people have been displaced within Sudan and more than 1.9 million have fled to neighboring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.
