MTN South Africa and Lynk Global, an American low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider, disclosed on Thursday that they have made Africa’s first phone call via satellite, in a potential boost for telecoms coverage in unserved and rural areas.
Telecom operators have been exploring partnerships with satellite providers to overcome the limitations of rural connectivity. Satellites, particularly Low Earth Orbit (LEO) models, can provide high-speed internet in areas where deploying terrestrial infrastructure is expensive or impractical.
The phone call was made in Vryburg, North West province of South Africa, and allowed the companies to test voice call quality and SMS capabilities over an LEO satellite connection using a standard smartphone.
“The technical trial was part of our work to find potential solutions to the challenges of providing coverage in underserved, rural and remote areas,” said Charles Molapisi, MTN South Africa chief executive officer, according to South African publication, My Broadband.
Molapisi highlighted that the call proved MTN’s ability to complement its ground-based cell towers and other infrastructure with LEOs.
“The implications of potentially leveraging satellite partnerships will not only help MTN achieve its goal of 99 percent broadband population coverage but, most importantly, benefit all South Africans,” Molapisi stated.
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Dan Dooley, Lynk Global’s chief commercial officer, noted that the successful trial was the first time a satellite phone call was made in Africa using an unmodified phone. The companies said they received approval from the telecoms regulator ICASA to use radio frequencies on MTN-licensed spectrum for the trial.
In 2024, Ralph Mupita, MTN Group chief executive officer, said the company was exploring partnerships with satellite companies. “To keep customers and businesses connected at all times, we are going to have to embrace satellite as an additional technology form,” he said.
The Group has collaborated with Omnispace, OneWeb, Starlink, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile to trial various connectivity solutions.
Aside from MTN, rival Cell C is also seeking satellite partnerships, and Vodacom announced a partnership with Amazon’s Project Kuiper LEO satellite in 2023, according to reports.
In 2024, SpaceX’s Starlink announced that its satellite direct-to-cell phone constellations were complete. It noted that this will enable unmodified cell phones to have internet connectivity in remote areas.
When satellite solutions become more mainstream for telcos, GSMA Intelligence estimates that operators across Sub-Saharan Africa will unlock a revenue opportunity of more than $30 billion by 2035.