MTN reveals how it made Africa's direct-to-satellite voice calls

• MTN has disclosed that it has successfully trialled Africa’s archetypal telephone telephone via outer successful concern with American institution Lynk
• The institution said it has been exploring partnerships with outer companies to flooded the shortcomings of agrarian connectivity
• The telecom institution said the telephone telephone was made successful Vryburg, South Africa and allowed companies to trial dependable calls and SMS 

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported connected tech, energy, stocks, concern and the system for implicit a decade.

MTN South Africa, successful concern with an American low-earth orbit (LEO) provider, Lynk, revealed connected Thursday, March 27, 2025, that it has made Africa’s archetypal telephone telephone done satellite, showing a imaginable boost for telecom coverage.

The telecom elephantine has been exploring partnerships with outer providers to circumvent the limitations of agrarian connectivity.

MTN rivals Starlink successful Africa's archetypal direct-to-satellite telephone calls. Credit: MTN Nigeria
Source: Getty Images

MTN records occurrence successful outer telephone calls

Satellites, particularly LEO models, can supply high-speed net successful places wherever deploying terrestrial infrastructure is costly oregon impossible.

Reports accidental the telephone telephone was made successful Vryburg, South Africa. This allows firms to proceedings dependable telephone prime and SMS capabilities implicit an LEO outer connection.

Per the report, the method trial was portion of MTN’s enactment to find imaginable solutions to the inhibitions of providing sum successful underserved, agrarian and distant areas.

MTN South Africa’s main enforcement officer, Charles Molapisi, stated that the telephone proved the telco's quality to complement its terrestrial-based compartment towers and different infrastructure with different low-earth orbits.

He said the implications of perchance leveraging outer partnerships volition not lone let MTN to execute its extremity of 99% broadband colonisation sum but besides payment users successful South Africa.

MTN collaborates with Starlink, others

Lynk’s main commercialized officer, Dan Dooley, said that the palmy proceedings was the archetypal clip a outer telephone telephone was made successful South Africa with an unmodified phone.

The companies said the tests were approved by the telecoms regulator, ICASA, which allowed them to usage vigor frequencies connected MTN-based spectrum for the test.

MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita, said successful 2024 that the steadfast was exploring collaborations with outer firms, saying that to support customers and businesses connected astatine each times, it would follow outer arsenic an further exertion form.

The telecom institution collaborated with Omnispace, OneWeb, Starlink, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile to trial assorted connectivity solutions.

Starlink tests satellite-to-phone calls

Another company, Cell C, is reportedly seeking outer collaborations, and Vodacom disclosed that it volition spouse with Amazon’s Project Kuiper LEO outer successful 2023.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Starlink, owned by billionaire businessman and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, announced that its outer direct-to-cellphone constellations were complete, noting that this enables unmodified cellphones to person net connections successful distant areas.

MTN to leverage Lynk's infrastructure for its direct-to-satellite telephone calls Credit: MTN Nigeria
Source: UGC

According to GSMA Intelligence, telecom operators crossed Sub-Saharan Africa volition unlock astir $30 cardinal successful gross by 2035 erstwhile outer solutions go much mainstream.

MTN, Airtel motion network-sharing woody successful 2 countries

Legit.ng earlier reported that MTN Group and Airtel Africa have signed a caller web infrastructure sharing woody to amended work sum successful 2 countries.

This caller woody volition prevention some telecommunication groups important investments successful mobile telephone web infrastructure portion allowing them to summation work coverage.

Both groups released authoritative statements connected Wednesday, March 26, astir the caller deal, which takes effect successful Nigeria and Uganda.

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Source: Legit.ng