• Axian Telecom partners AST SpaceMobile to deliver satellite mobile broadband in Africa

• BlueBird satellites will provide 4G and 5G directly to smartphones

• Project targets rural areas lacking mobile internet coverage

Pan-African telecommunications group Axian Telecom, operating under the Yas brand, plans to use satellites to deliver direct mobile broadband services across Africa. The company has partnered with AST SpaceMobile on the project, which mainly targets people in remote and rural areas amid a persistent digital divide and intensifying competition.

Announced on Wednesday, March 3, 2026, the partnership relies on a direct-to-device (D2D) model. It will use AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) to provide 4G LTE and 5G broadband connectivity directly to standard smartphones, without additional hardware or dedicated applications.

According to Axian Telecom, the satellite network will be integrated into the Yas core network infrastructure across its markets to ensure seamless connectivity for voice, video, data and internet services. The two companies also plan to develop joint commercial offers for consumers, enterprises, IoT applications, as well as maritime, aviation and emergency services.

“Our ambition has always been to build a network that works for everyone in Africa, not just those in cities. Connectivity is the foundation on which everything else is built, and there are still too many people and businesses across our markets who are cut off from it,” said Hassan Jaber, CEO of Axian Telecom.

African telecom operators step up use of satellites

Telecom operators across Africa are increasingly turning to satellite technology as a way to reduce the continent’s digital divide. British telecom group Vodafone, present in eight African markets through Vodacom, strengthened its partnership this week with Amazon on the LEO constellation currently under deployment. Groups such as MTN, Airtel Africa and Orange are also exploring similar solutions.

The growing use of satellites reflects operators’ efforts to reach areas that remain poorly served or without coverage. According to the GSMA, around 9% of Africa’s population still lacked mobile internet coverage in 2025, representing significant growth potential for operators in an increasingly competitive market.

Axian Telecom provides mobile services under the Yas brand in Tanzania, Madagascar, the Comoros, Togo and Senegal. As of September 2025, the company had 43.1 million mobile subscribers and 13.5 million internet subscriptions, ranking sixth among mobile operators in Africa. The continent’s largest telecom groups include MTN, Airtel Africa, Vodacom, Orange, Moov Africa (Maroc Telecom) and Ethio Telecom.

In Senegal, Yas accounted for 23.54% of mobile subscriptions, behind Orange, which held more than half of the market at the end of December 2025. In mobile internet, the operator ranked second with a 20.82% market share, compared with 65.22% for Orange, out of roughly 23.38 million subscriptions. Despite this, authorities estimate that internet penetration remains below 40%, with more than 1,000 localities still lacking access.

In Tanzania, Yas held a 27.64% share of the mobile internet market at the end of December 2025, behind Vodacom (32.91%) but ahead of Airtel (21.04%). According to the telecom regulator, the country had 57.69 million mobile internet subscriptions for a population of 68.56 million. However, the GSMA estimated in 2023 that around 40 million Tanzanians still lacked access to mobile internet.

Isaac K. Kassouwi