In an effort to extend its services to distant regions throughout its operational market, MTN, a pan-African telecommunications company, said that it is in discussions with a number of satellite service providers, including Starlink, owned by Elon Musk.
The business specifically said that enterprise-grade testing for SpaceX’s Starlink are now taking place in Rwanda and Nigeria.
Furthermore, MTN stated that a number of projects are under progress, such as impending direct-to-cell testing in Ghana and South Africa with Lynk Global.
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The company is also having discussions with providers like AST SpaceMobile for trials in Nigeria and South Sudan. “In parallel, we are advancing discussions with Eutelsat OneWeb for a planned pilot in South Africa,” it added.
Announcing the strategic partnerships via a statement, MTN Group chief technology and information officer Mazen Mroué, said:
“At MTN, we are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. We are driven to deliver on our Ambition 2025 strategic intent of ‘Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress’.
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“Time is of the essence, so we recognise that we cannot do it alone. Partnerships are essential. In recent years we have helped narrow coverage gaps in rural areas by collaborating with several rollout partners and by deploying new technology using OpenRAN.
“To complement our terrestrial network – where the terrain can be difficult for radio sites and backhaul transport and sparse population distribution often makes regular cellular rollout uneconomical – we are now exploring the skies. Specifically, we are partnering for low earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity to connect the unconnected, extend mobile connectivity to more rural and remote areas and improve resilience.
The CTO added that these partnerships would help the company achieve its goal of 95% broadband population coverage across its footprint by 2025, from 88% in 2022.
