According to the GSM Association (GSMA), more than half of the Sub-Saharan African population has no access to mobile services. In that context,  telecom operators are exploring solutions to connect millions of digitally excluded people.

Pan-African telecom group Vodacom wants to leverage low earth orbit (LEO) satellite capabilities to fill the coverage gaps in its telecom network in Africa, especially in rural areas. This was revealed by Dejan Kastelic (photo), the company's CTO, in an interview with Developing Telecoms on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2023.

In the framework of the project, Vodacom will collaborate with satellite operators Starlink and AST SpaceMobile, Kastelic said. He said LEO satellites offer higher throughput and latency to provide quality telecom services than geostationary (GEO) satellites. He added that LEO satellite technology can be deployed to connect subscribers in two years, compared to 10 to 15 years for the traditional approach.

The new initiative is part of the “Digital Society” component of Vodacom Group's strategic plan "Vision 2025". Under that component, the operator wants to connect and improve the lives of 100 million new subscribers in a context marked by the demand for high-speed connectivity and the acceleration of digital transformation across Africa. For this, space technology is more appropriate, as it offers a greater range to reach even populations living in remote areas that are hardly accessible for its terrestrial network.

Ultimately, this project should enable Vodacom to improve the coverage and quality of its telecom services in Africa. By December 2022, the African subsidiary of the British company Vodafone had 137.89 million subscribers spread across Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Egypt. It also has stakes in Kenyan telecom company Safaricom and its Ethiopian unit Safaricom Ethiopia.

Isaac K. Kassouwi