(Ecofin Agency) - In South Sudan, more than 70% of the population does not use cell phone services. MTN wants to leverage space technology to bring telecom services to every community in the country, including rural areas. 

MTN Group will leverage the capabilities of satellite operator Intelsat to better extend its network and service coverage throughout South Sudan, including remote rural areas. The two parties signed a partnership agreement in that regard last Wednesday. 

Under the agreement, MTN South Sudan will use Intelsat's expertise and advanced connectivity infrastructure to diversify its offerings, improve application performance, among others.

According to Chisanga Kaziya, MTN South Sudan's chief information and technical officer, it “reflects MTN’s ambition to better serve its customers and provide coverage anywhere across South Sudan.” 

In December 2021, the company signed a partnership agreement with Canadian company NuRAN Wireless to deploy 250 telecom sites to expand its presence, in rural areas especially.  

According to Hootsuite and We Are Social's "Digital 2022: Global Overview Report," South Sudan has a mobile penetration rate of 28.4 percent and its Internet penetration rate is 19.9 percent. The market has a strong potential in the data, voice and mobile money segments for MTN and its competitor, Zain. In December 2021, MTN announced a US$120 million investment in the market over three years. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi