Vodacom Group has announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband internet to businesses across Africa. With this agreement, Vodacom will expand connectivity in underserved regions where traditional infrastructure faces significant challenges, reported Reuters.
Despite serving more than 223m customers, Vodacom continues to face obstacles in reaching rural areas due to sparse populations, difficult terrain and limited smartphone penetration, which make conventional tower deployments costly and inefficient. To overcome these barriers, the company is turning to low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology to extend internet access to hard-to-reach locations.
Under the new agreement, Vodacom will integrate Starlink’s satellite technology into its mobile network for data transmission and will also be authorised to resell Starlink’s equipment and services across the continent. The collaboration is expected to enhance network resilience and connectivity for both urban and remote regions.
“We continue dealing with multiple satellite providers, including Starlink, where Starlink has been licensed, as well as AST SpaceMobile and Amazon Kuiper,” Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub told Reuters following the company’s interim results earlier this week.
The move aligns with a broader industry trend, as Vodacom’s main rival MTN Group is also exploring satellite partnerships, while parent company Vodafone has already teamed up with Amazon’s Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile to strengthen its global satellite connectivity network.
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