MTN South Africa, in partnership with an American low-earth orbit (LEO) provider, Lynk, revealed on Thursday, March 27, 2025, that it has made Africa’s first phone call through satellite, showing a potential boost for telecom coverage.

The telecom giant has been exploring partnerships with satellite providers to circumvent the limitations of rural connectivity.

MTN records success in satellite phone calls

Satellites, especially LEO models, can provide high-speed internet in places where deploying terrestrial infrastructure is expensive or impossible.

Reports say the phone call was made in Vryburg, South Africa. This allows firms to trial voice call quality and SMS capabilities over an LEO satellite connection.

Per the report, the technical test was part of MTN’s work to find potential solutions to the inhibitions of providing coverage in underserved, rural and remote areas.

MTN South Africa’s chief executive officer, Charles Molapisi, stated that the call proved the telco's ability to complement its terrestrial-based cell towers and other infrastructure with other low-earth orbits.

He said the implications of potentially leveraging satellite partnerships will not only allow MTN to achieve its goal of 99% broadband population coverage but also benefit users in South Africa.

MTN collaborates with Starlink, others

Lynk’s chief commercial officer, Dan Dooley, said that the successful trial was the first time a satellite phone call was made in South Africa with an unmodified phone.

The companies said the tests were approved by the telecoms regulator, ICASA, which allowed them to use radio frequencies on MTN-based spectrum for the test.

MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita, said in 2024 that the firm was exploring collaborations with satellite firms, saying that to keep customers and businesses connected at all times, it would adopt satellite as an additional technology form.

The telecom company collaborated with Omnispace, OneWeb, Starlink, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile to test various connectivity solutions.

Starlink tests satellite-to-phone calls

Another company, Cell C, is reportedly seeking satellite collaborations, and Vodacom disclosed that it will partner with Amazon’s Project Kuiper LEO satellite in 2023.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Starlink, owned by billionaire businessman and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, announced that its satellite direct-to-cellphone constellations were complete, noting that this enables unmodified cellphones to have internet connections in remote areas.

According to GSMA Intelligence, telecom operators across Sub-Saharan Africa will unlock about $30 billion in revenue by 2035 when satellite solutions become more mainstream.

MTN, Airtel sign network-sharing deal in 2 countries

Legit.ng earlier reported that MTN Group and Airtel Africa have signed a new network infrastructure sharing deal to improve service coverage in two countries.

This new deal will save both telecommunication groups significant investments in mobile phone network infrastructure while allowing them to increase service coverage.

Both groups released official statements on Wednesday, March 26, about the new deal, which takes effect in Nigeria and Uganda.