How Africa’s telcos are leading the satellite push

By Bonface ORUCHO

Africa’s mobile operators are leading the way in Africa’s growing satellite internet market, transforming low Earth orbit technology from a niche service into a mainstream tool for connecting rural and enterprise customers.

Bonface Orucho, bird story agency

Vodacom’s recent partnership with Starlink signals a structural shift in Africa’s connectivity model, where telcos are increasingly at the centre of how satellite capacity is deployed, commercialised, and scaled across the continent. In November 2025, Vodacom Group signed an agreement with Starlink to integrate LEO satellite backhaul into its mobile network and to resell Starlink hardware and services to enterprise and SME clients across multiple African markets.

Both companies framed the deal as a way to accelerate network expansion, especially in rural areas, where towers remain costly to build and fibre backhaul is often impossible. According to sector analysts, the shift has been structural.

“For years, expanding coverage into rural and low-income regions has challenged mobile operators,” according to Caroline Jemeli, a Kenyan business analyst. “Sparse populations, difficult terrain, and low ARPUs (average revenue per user) have kept the cost per user stubbornly high, leaving millions unconnected. But over the past year, we’ve seen a convergence where mobile operators are moving from being passive buyers of satellite capacity to co-architects of satellite-enabled mobile networks. That’s the big shift.”

For decades, satellite services played a fringe role in Africa, often limited to backup links for enterprise clients or remote industrial sites. That relationship is changing. According to a 2025 Gartner report, global end-user spending on low Earth orbit communications services is projected to reach US$14.8 billion in 2026, driven by rising demand for extended coverage and business connectivity.

According to Khurram Shahzad, a senior director at Gartner, new consumer and business use cases are emerging for LEOs, driving communications service providers to expand the market.

“This is enabling LEO satellites to become a mainstream enterprise broadband technology.”

Vodacom’s strong position in the African market makes the deal commercially significant. According to the company’s interim results for the six months to 30 September 2025, Vodacom generated revenue of 81.6 billion rand and grew its customer base by 8.6% to 223.2 million users.

Integrating satellite backhaul also gives Vodacom more control over customer relationships. Starlink provides capacity and hardware, but Vodacom packages the service, distributes devices, and manages billing, support, and overall user experience. Jemeli notes that this arrangement is commercially attractive for telcos because “it helps them protect their customer base while offering higher-margin enterprise solutions that can diversify revenue.”

Rural expansion remains a major motivation behind the shift. According to the 2025 State of Digital Development in Africa (SDDT 2025), 13–14% of the population in Africa (excluding Mediterranean countries) remains outside mobile broadband coverage. Many of these communities are in regions where tower construction is difficult or where operators cannot recover their costs through traditional business models. Satellite backhaul allows operators to effectively lower the entry cost for bringing 4G or 5G signals into remote areas.

Analysys Mason’s 2025 report shows that using LEO backhaul can reduce rural rollout time by 40–60% in markets where terrain and land access constraints are severe. Beyond the Vodacom-Starlink deal, other operators are pursuing similar partnerships that reinforce the growing trend.

Airtel Africa, for example, struck a deal with SpaceX earlier in 2025 to resell Starlink services across its footprint, with its CEO describing the partnership as foundational for connecting remote communities. Airtel also ran a pilot with Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO service on a moving train in October, demonstrating high-speed connectivity where fibre cannot reach.

MTN South Africa collaborated with Lynk Global to run a first-of-its-kind satellite-to-smartphone voice call, showing that standard mobile devices can tap into orbital coverage. Paratus Group expanded its partnership with Eutelsat to deliver OneWeb services across southern African markets and separately launched Starlink solutions in Rwanda.

In Angola, MSTelcom signed agreements to bring LEO broadband to enterprise and public-sector customers in remote and industrial areas.

As telcos and satellite providers innovate, regulators are beginning to respond. South Africa’s ICASA held public hearings in early 2025 on a proposed licensing framework for LEO and other satellite services.

Rwanda has adopted a flexible “blanket licence” model allowing LEO constellations to operate without per-terminal permits.

At a regional level, the African Telecommunications Union is developing a harmonised satellite-licensing framework to reduce regulatory fragmentation and promote scale.

But the shift also comes with risks. Jemeli argues that hardware affordability remains a concern. “Starlink terminals are still relatively expensive for small businesses or community institutions unless subsidised or bundled into long-term service packages. If operators focus only on corporate clients, rural communities could remain excluded even as coverage improves technically.”

She adds, “If deployment is executed effectively, this hybrid model could bring millions of currently unconnected households and businesses into the digital economy.”