As regular coverage began to return to other parts of the country, some Sudanese residents who had been cut off from mobile networks for weeks due to fighting between rival military factions are now accessing the internet via Starlink satellite connections.
Beginning in early February, a mobile blackout has hampered aid deliveries and made it difficult for people to purchase necessities like food in short supply and stay in touch with displaced family members.
People gathered around a Starlink access point in the Karari district of Omdurman, where the Sudanese army has recently advanced against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has given residents some satellite access to use their phones to stay in touch with loved ones.
"People need connection, they need it badly," said Amal Abdu, a resident in the Karari district of Omdurman, part of Sudan's broader capital.
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"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," she said.
The banking system has been severely damaged by fighting, and many people have become dependent on the Bank of Khartoum's Bankak mobile app for money transfers and 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.
Previous reports from sources in the telecom sector claimed that the RSF had shut down networks after threatening to do so if the army didn't restore the disabled connections in Darfur's western region.
Some areas of Sudan, including the capital and the majority of Darfur, are still without service, despite state-owned Sudani having restored coverage in some areas.
Last week, Zain, a different supplier, restored minimal service.
Elon Musk's Starlink, a satellite service that is not usually permitted in Sudan and costs roughly $2.5 per hour for average Sudanese, has grown among those living in areas without mobile service.
Another resident of Karari, who went by Mohamed, said, "The most recent 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."
The war between the army and the RSF erupted in mid-April 2023 over tensions linked to a planned political transition and has led to a major humanitarian crisis and spreading hunger.
