SpaceX’s Starlink has struck a partnership with Airtel Africa which will allow its Starlink Direct to Cell satellite to connect more than 173 million people in Africa across 14 countries, powering life-saving connectivity when it’s needed most. This marks the sixth continent for the satellite-to-mobile service and expands its mission to end mobile dead zones.

The service will begin by delivering data that enables voice, video and messaging, and will advance to providing high-speed broadband service to smartphones with 20x improved data speeds. Starlink currently has 650 of its special Direct to Cell satellites in orbit.

“Direct to Cell works with every LTE phone wherever you can see the sky, enabling off-the-grid connectivity on land, lakes or coastal waters. No changes to existing hardware, firmware, or special apps required,” stated Starlink.

Airtel is a UK-registered business and operates primarily in East, Central and West Africa. It is majority owned by India’s Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa currently offers Starlink’s internet services in nine of its 14 markets where Starlink has regulatory clearance to operate: Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, Chad, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The agreement also covers Airtel’s other five African markets (Tanzania, Uganda, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Seychelles) where Starlink has applied for licences.

The Starlink/Airtel agreement will go head-to-head with AST SpaceMobile’s relationship with Vodafone/Vodacom and their extensive presence in other African countries.

Meanwhile, Starlink says it now has a total of 8.6 million users.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: africa, Airtel, starlink