Currently, mobile telecommunications network MTN – the biggest telecommunications company in Africa – is considering offering service with the help of canonical LEO satellite operators to address the problem of connectivity of rural populations. The Group CEO Ralph Mupita revealed this on Monday when elaborating on the company’s goal to boost accessibility for outlying areas.
MTN Explores Satellite Partnerships to Boost Rural Connectivity
The announcement comes as more firms consider satellite internet for their clients in the continent, with Starlink headed by SpaceX already offering the services. Most often, LEO satellites are viewed as a promising solution for delivering broadband Internet access where it is difficult or expensive to build ground infrastructure.
Mupita also stressed on satellite technology pointing out that it would support MTN’s current endeavours of ensuring customers and businesses remain connected. It could assist in meeting the increasing need for dependable Web in regions with little or no fiber and mobile broadband infrastructure.
Currently, MTN is engaging in some PoCs with three LEO satellite operators to establish possible collaborations. These trials are intended to assess the possibility of establishing satellite services within the MTN Communications network.
In some of the locations, MTN’s goal is to act as a reseller of satellite internet using the company’s enterprise segment to offer the new connection type to some clients. This may have the additional benefit of allowing MTN to deliver more services in multiple flourishing markets across Africa.
MTN and Rivals Seek Satellite Partnerships for Future Growth
In this paper we consider MTN’s search for satellite partnerships in the context of a larger phenomenon of satellite partnership activity among South Africa’s telecom operators. Cell C, smaller than MTN, is also in discussion with suppliers of satellite services to improve coverage in the areas of low population density. The two are intending to use LEO satellite technology to operate in a developing market situation.
South Africa’s second largest operator Vodacom has already started in this regard. The firm, in which Vodafone owns a majority stake, revealed in the last year plans to collaborate with Amazon’s Project Kuiper to catering for LEO satelliteservice . This partnership shows that telecoms firms such as Vodacom are now vying for a slice of value that satellite internet looks set to corner in the future.
Ralph Mupita, the MTN Group CEO, admitted that Low Earth Orbit satellites are becoming more relevant in the sector. He said that the firm has been keen on responding to the challenge posed by the satellite services. Mupita was adamant that whilst, for example, satellite technology may indeed retail higher than satellite systems aimed at traditional markets, MTN is singularly concerned with positioning its business well in the major markets.
Currently, MTN still plans to carry out proof of concepts within several satellite providers in order to strike partnerships that would enable it to provide broader service coverage across the entire African region. As the telecom industry continues to grow or transform, it might be set or inclined to form alliances with satellite companies to enable it offertelecom services to other areas.
The pressure to explore satellite partnerships also relates to the need for customers to access the internet with greater stability in rural and other underdeveloped regions. As MTN, Cell C, and Vodacom seek to expand their portfolios and operations of services they provide their respective customers, the strategies are expected to improve their capacities to address requirements in the telecom sector.
MTN Calls for Level Playing Field as Starlink Faces Regulatory Hurdles
Starlink, one of the providers of satellite internet, serves several African countries but faces restrictions in some of them, such as South Africa. These challenges have been made worse by discouragement from state-owned telecom firms, which feel threatened by the new satellite internet capabilities.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has been working on creating a regulatory and licensing structure essentially for satellite internet providers in South Africa. The intended outcome is to define requirements for operators so that expansion of using satellite Internet in the country would be easier.
Speaking on regulatory issues pertaining to satellite services, Ralph Mupita the MTN’s Group CEO said LEO operators requires subjecting to similar regulations like traditional Telecoms operators. He explained that more specifically, it should work in the same way as current aspects such as data protection, transportation, localization and of course, spectrum availability.
MTN’s call for fair treatment merely seeks to make satellite internet companies compete on a 50/50 basis with mobile operators. Opinion of Mupita on fairness in rules governing regulation to enhance competition and innovation in the market.
Discussions concerning the regulation of satellite internet have emerged at a time when such services are being developed in different regions to solve connectivity challenges in unserved regions such as Africa. New rules where criteria are easier to distinguish might enable additional enterprises, such as Starlink, to deepen their penetration, while incumbent telecoms, for example MTN, seek to preserve their presence in the emerging environment.
