{"id":632414,"date":"2026-03-09T09:14:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=632414"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:16:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T08:16:54","slug":"mtn-announces-starlink-launch-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wireless\/632414-mtn-announces-starlink-launch-plan.html","title":{"rendered":"MTN announces Starlink launch plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MTN Zambia has become the first mobile operator in Africa to complete field testing of SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile, the company\u2019s direct-to-cell service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operator transmitted the country’s first satellite-based data session and mobile money transaction using MTN Zambia’s licensed spectrum and Starlink’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A standard LTE-compatible smartphone connected directly to Starlink satellites and completed both a data session and a fintech transaction through MTN’s MoMo platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No conventional ground towers were involved in the trial, which MTN described as a first for the country and the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN Zambia said a commercial launch is expected in the coming weeks, subject to approval from the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At launch, the service will support WhatsApp voice and video calls, the MoMo App, the MyMTN App, navigation, and weather applications, with more to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starlink’s direct-to-cell (D2C) satellites operate as cell towers in orbit, using phased array antennas to communicate directly with standard LTE handsets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The satellites relay signals across the Starlink constellation via laser links, integrating with operators’ existing systems in a manner similar to roaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology requires no specialised hardware, firmware updates, or apps \u2014 only a clear view of the sky and a 4G-compatible phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While MTN and Vodacom, through parent company Vodafone, are testing and launching D2C services elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is lagging behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because Starlink refuses to launch its fixed wireless broadband service in South Africa through middlemen, and the country has strict local ownership requirements for telecommunications licences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To obtain the necessary network, service, and spectrum licences, SpaceX\u2019s local entity must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDGs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HDGs include people who are Black, women, youth, and people with disabilities. Black includes people of black African, Coloured, and Indian descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeting Africa’s hardest-to-reach areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
MTN and Lynk Global tested the first direct satellite-to-phone call in South Africa in March 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MTN Zambia said its D2C service would extend coverage to remote areas where building terrestrial infrastructure is economically or logistically impractical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target areas include national game parks, rural farming communities, and settlements surrounded by rivers and water bodies where tower construction is not viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zambian milestone builds on MTN’s broader satellite strategy across the continent, which has accelerated over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2025, MTN South Africa and US satellite provider Lynk Global conducted the first satellite-to-mobile phone call in Africa using an unmodified smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That trial in Vryburg, North West, tested GSM voice and SMS capabilities over Lynk Global’s LEO network using MTN-licensed spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN South Africa said it planned to extend testing to LTE as legacy 2G and 3G technologies are phased out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has been exploring partnerships with multiple D2C providers, including Lynk Global, AST SpaceMobile, OneWeb, and Starlink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing competition across the continent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Vodacom and Starlink announced a partnership to offer enterprise services across Africa where it is permitted operate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MTN’s Zambia trial comes amid intensifying competition among Africa’s major telecoms operators to secure satellite connectivity partnerships and close coverage gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2025, Airtel Africa announced a partnership with SpaceX to roll out Starlink Mobile across all 14 of its African markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That deal covers approximately 174 million subscribers, with services set to begin in 2026 pending country-specific regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom has taken a different route. Its parent, Vodafone, announced an agreement with Amazon Leo to connect remote base stations via satellite backhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That arrangement focuses on linking 4G and 5G sites in areas where deploying fibre or fixed wireless connections is difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodafone and Vodacom have also partnered with AST SpaceMobile, which trialled a space-based 5G voice call using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While African mobile operators are exploring partnerships with multiple LEO providers, the fact is that Starlink\u2019s constellation is currently unrivalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is it by far the largest constellation with 9,943 active satellites (per satellitemap.space<\/a>), it is the only commercially available LEO network at any kind of scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa is being left behind, as MTN announces the launch of a Starlink Mobile partnership in Zambia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":472009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,13],"tags":[97003,78924,42,68156,11375,48987,103556],"class_list":["post-632414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","category-wireless","tag-direct-to-cell-d2c","tag-low-earth-orbit-leo-satellites","tag-mtn","tag-mtn-momo","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-starlink-mobile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632422,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632414\/revisions\/632422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}