SA’s Top Telco Locks In With Starlink Despite SA Barring The Service

Vodacom has quietly closed a deal that could change how millions of Africans get online. The Johannesburg-based operator announced it will integrate Starlink satellite backhaul into its mobile network and resell Starlink terminals and services across the continent.

The move comes after years of regulatory friction that kept Starlink out of South Africa, and it immediately raises questions about who will benefit and how quickly the service will roll out.

Satellite links can reach places where fibre and towers are too expensive to build. Vodacom says adding low-earth orbit satellites will speed up coverage expansion and lift performance in rural pockets where signal quality and capacity are poor. For a telco that has publicly set a 2030 target to reach 260 million customers, the partnership is a pragmatic way to extend reach without shouldering the full cost of ground networks.

Vodacom’s CEO Shameel Joosub was careful to point out that rolling out services will depend on licensing in each country. In other words Vodacom can use Starlink gear where regulators allow it.

That caveat matters because Starlink itself has been blocked from getting a South African license under current rules that require 30 percent local ownership by historically disadvantaged groups. SpaceX has been lobbying for an alternative compliance model that would let it operate through investments that mirror local ownership rather than by handing over direct equity.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, South Africa’s communications ministry floated a draft policy that would allow equity-equivalent programmes as a route to compliance.

Critics say the proposal looked like special treatment for a high-profile company. Officials denied that claim and framed the change as a broader move to modernise rules that were written for a different era of telecoms. The policy debate shows why a Vodacom-Starlink tie-up could be faster to implement in other African markets than on home soil.

The deal could be a net positive for customers and businesses if prices and service quality are reasonable. Starlink brings low latency and higher speeds than traditional geostationary satellites. That can unlock richer use cases such as cloud services, video conferencing, and point-of-sale systems in remote towns.

However, satellite capacity is not infinite and must be paired with local investment in towers, power, and last-mile connectivity to make internet access reliable and affordable. Observers say the technology alone will not replace the basic economics of serving low-income and dispersed populations.

African mobile operators have been testing partnerships with several space-based providers. Vodacom has said it works with other satellite players and competitors like MTN are pursuing similar options. Reselling Starlink hardware and services opens a new revenue line while preserving Vodacom’s role as the customer-facing brand and network operator. For Starlink, the arrangement boosts reach without the headache of complying with every national ownership rule directly.

Although the partnership is a practical response to a hard problem, it also exposes gaps in regulation and in the way governments think about digital inclusion.