Vodacom partners with Starlink to expand rural connectivity across Africa

Vodacom is taking its network far beyond the reach of land cables, straight into orbit. The South African mobile giant has on Wednesday partnered with Elon Musk’s Starlink to deliver satellite-powered broadband across Africa, targeting the rural and hard-to-reach areas that regular towers can’t touch.

This deal, according to an emailed statement from both companies, is meant to close Africa’s digital divide faster than ground infrastructure ever could.

The plan will make Vodacom the first major African telecom to combine its mobile network with Starlink’s satellite internet service, which already operates in 25 African countries, according to data from SpaceX.

Vodacom is facing regulatory limits and finding workarounds in South Africa

The Vodacom-Starlink collab comes with some fine print though, as Elon is desperately avoiding South Africa’s strict 30% Black-ownership rule by working through Vodacom instead of trying to own infrastructure in the country.

The South African government is weighing whether to revise telecom laws, allowing companies to meet equity targets by investing in community-focused projects like infrastructure or research that support disadvantaged groups.

The approach would mirror what’s already done in the auto sector, where carmakers like BMW, Ford, and Toyota launched a fund in 2019 to bring marginalized groups into the industry.

Vodacom’s chief executive, Shameel Joosub, said on Monday that launching the service will depend on licensing approvals in each market. That means the company’s expansion plans hinge on how fast regulators move.

Once licensed, the rollout will start in markets where Starlink already holds authorization.

Alongside the new deal, Vodacom will resell Starlink’s equipment and services to businesses and small enterprises.

The company said this aligns with its 2030 growth strategy, which aims to reach 260 million customers and 120 million financial-service users in five years. It’s a part of a broader effort to dominate enterprise broadband services across the continent.

Vodacom’s broader African expansion and financial performance

Vodacom has been working with Orange to build 2,000 new base stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to strengthen rural coverage, while also teaming up with Airtel Africa to share network infrastructure.

Beyond Starlink, the company is already linked with Amazon’s Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile for future satellite collaborations.

Africa’s growing and youthful population keeps pushing demand for better internet access. Around 40% of Africans are online, compared to the global average of 70%.

But cost remains the biggest challenge, as building towers across the continent’s vast rural areas is incredibly expensive, and customers in these regions often can’t pay premium prices.

To manage that, Vodacom, MTN, and other regional carriers are exploring infrastructure sharing and possible consolidation deals.

Shameel said the company sees more room for such partnerships to make operations more efficient.

Financially, Vodacom is having one of its best runs in over a decade after its H1 earnings surged by 33%, the largest increase in ten years.

Vodacom’s earnings per share surged to 4.72 rand from 3.54 rand a year ago, while headline earnings rose by 32% to 4.67 rand, helped by strong results from Egypt, one of Vodacom’s newest markets, and consistent returns from Kenya’s Safaricom, in which it holds a one‑third stake.

Total revenue hit 81.6 billion rand ($4.72 billion), up 11% year‑on‑year. But despite the upbeat numbers, the company slightly cut its forecast last week after reaching an out‑of‑court settlement with a former employee who claimed he created the “Please Call Me” service more than two decades ago.

The settlement amount wasn’t disclosed in the results, but the deal closed a chapter that had followed Vodacom for years.

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