Elon Musk writes: "This post was made from a normal mobile phone straight to a SpaceX satellite, with no special equipment in between!"

ELON MUSK sent a post to X yesterday that says: "This post was made from a normal mobile phone straight to a SpaceX satellite, with no special equipment in between!" The historic post dated 6:33 AM Feb 26, 2024 has 25.4M views as at 21:28 GMT Tue Feb 27, 2024.

This post was made from a normal mobile phone straight to a SpaceX satellite, with no special equipment in between! https://t.co/rjry9vr5zj

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2024

___________________________

Note, SpaceX sent a post to X yesterday (33 minutes earlier than Mr Musk's) saying: "This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite in space." The historic post dated 6:00 AM GMT Feb 26, 2024 has 27.3M views as at 21:29 GMT Tue Feb 27, 2024. 

This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite in space 🛰️

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 26, 2024

POSTSCRIPT from Sudan Watch Editor

Warmest congrats to all involved. Now people in Sudan need to know how they can get the exciting new service on their existing mobile phones, how much it costs, and how and where, and to whom, to pay. 

Right now, in some areas of Sudan civilians are charged extortionate prices to make calls using a Starlink device set up by rebels at illegal checkpoints.

___________________________

Further Reading

IMAGE and caption by RichQuack@RichQuack 6:04 AM · Feb 26, 2024:

Caption: SpaceX Sends its Text Messages 

Via Direct-to-Cell Starlink Satellites - Via Satellite

See original (92.8K Views so far): https://twitter.com/RichQuack/status/1761995521692987792

___

Copy of a post at X by El-Mahdi @arelmahdi 8:13 PM · Feb 27, 2024:

“I just spoke to someone on WhatsApp who's in an RSF controlled area and she tells me they can access the internet at some of the RSF checkpoints which have a Starlink connection and get access for 1 hour for a fee of 5000 SDG (approx. 4USD). 

So apparently, Starlink is becoming a source of supplementary income (besides looting and salary) for soldiers at RSF checkpoints. Doubt they'll want to see the telecoms networks back up and running in areas under their control.”

See original: https://twitter.com/arelmahdi/status/1762571749596504390

H/t Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc Feb 8 2024:

“Network blackout cuts communications for millions in war-torn Sudan. Of course, RSF are getting around internet cutoffs by using Starlink, procured in Chad and Libya. Im detecting a pattern…”

See original: https://twitter.com/arelmahdi/status/1762571749596504390

___

Copy of a post at X by Sadeia @sadiea8 2:51 PM · Feb 27, 2024:

“The local authorities in El Geneina - West Darfur impose fees on satellite internet devices (Starlink) of 150,000 pounds on everyone who owns a device and uses it for commercial purposes, in addition to service fees of 50,000 pounds annually.

Anyone who violates the provisions of this decision will be subject to a fine of 500,000 pounds, or one month in prison, or both.”

See original: https://twitter.com/sadiea8/status/1762490632654684535

___

Sudan Watch - February 10, 2024

URGENT MESSAGE to Sir Tim Berners-Lee: The internet belongs to everyone including the Sudanese

People in Sudan are suffering after decades of war. Now their internet has been shut for several days. It was hard enough for them to keep going during bombings while managing patchy electricity.

In most parts of Sudan, banks, shops, businesses, churches and infrastructure have been destroyed. The Sudanese depend on the internet to receive money for food, medicine, electricity, calls for news and help. 

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/02/urgent-message-to-sir-tim-berners-lee.html

___

Sudan Watch - November 20, 2023

SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa

SpaceX is advertising a job vacancy for a manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa. The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/11/spacex-is-advertising-position-for.html

___

END

UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’ -IOM

"The fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and rebel RSF forces risks reaching the UN bases in the east of the country, warns the head of IOM, the UN migration agency in the country, sharing his frustration at being unable to reach the millions of civilians in desperate need of humanitarian assistance". Read more.

From UN News
Dated Wednesday, 17 January 2024 - excerpts:

UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’, says IOM country chief

IOM 2023 IOM teams are assessing the needs of Sudanese refugees on the Chad–Sudan border

Since the fighting began in April of last year, about half a million people have fled into neighbouring South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, and thousands more are expected to follow the exodus. The UN has shared reports of horrific abuse and widespread rights violations. Loaded trucks have been unable to bring aid supplies because of fierce fighting. Drivers have been beaten and extorted for money, and aid workers have been detained and killed.

Peter Kioy, the Sudan Chief of Mission for IOM, spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News from his temporary base in the eastern city of Port Sudan about the dangerous situation facing the Sudanese people and the humanitarian workers trying to support them.

© WFP/Eulalia Berlanga South Sudanese returnees arrive at the Joda border point in Upper Nile State.

Peter Kioy: The humanitarian community has no capacity to oversee or access the areas where people are fleeing to or fleeing from, which makes it really difficult for us to ensure the international protection rights that they are entitled to. The lack of humanitarian aid makes them more vulnerable. Access remains one of the key issues for the humanitarian community in Sudan; we need more secure access for humanitarian actors. Both sides agreed to allow humanitarian access during peace talks, but they are still not delivering on that.

UN News: Do you still have people on the ground?

Peter Kioy: In some areas, we don't have people because it’s too dangerous, and the humanitarian space is shrinking. Recently, the conflict reached Al Jazirah state and White Nile state, which meant that humanitarian actors had to move out. Truck drivers do not feel secure going into some of those localities to deliver aid.

IOM Thousands of people have arrived at Metema, the border town between Sudan and Ethiopia, since fighting in Sudan erupted on 15 April 2023.

UN News: How have IOM staff been affected?

Peter Kioy: A staff member was killed at the onset of the crisis, and we had to regroup around our eastern offices in Kassala, Al Qadarif and Port Sudan.

However, we don’t know for how long. The RSF have said that they’re making their way east towards Port Sudan as well. We don’t know how quickly they will advance, so we remain in a precarious situation, where we don’t know what will happen in the next two months or even the next two weeks.

For now, the situation in Port Sudan remains relatively stable and calm, but it is a probably a false calm because we’re not sure of what is happening in and around the city.

So, we remain vigilant in case we find ourselves in a similar situation to Khartoum.

 

UN News: Can you describe the evacuation from Khartoum in April 2023

Peter Kioy: I think it’s a situation you would not want to find yourself in again. 

It was chaotic. Bullets flying all around, people unable to move and seeking shelter under the furniture in their houses, hiding in corners and hoping that no stray bullets come through the windows.

No one expected that Khartoum would bear the brunt of the fighting, and so the necessary security measures were not in place. This made it very scary, especially for those who had family.

It was a nightmare that no one would want to live through or wish on others.

I remember that we were trying to coordinate our staff to get them to the gathering sites for the evacuation. It was difficult even in the relatively calm areas because of the number of rebel and government checkpoints. We didn’t know how the soldiers would react.

UN News: What is morale like amongst the UN teams in Port Sudan?

We have stayed behind to deliver aid, and we have the capacity, but we do not have access to the people who are in need of our support, and that has become frustrating.

There are pockets of hope. We managed, for example, to bring in cross-border support from Chad into Darfur and deliver some vital humanitarian aid. But, it still remains a challenge, and we hope that with the ongoing negotiations greater access can be granted to the humanitarian community at large.

View original: https://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/01/1145602

ENDS