Vodacom targets satellite-to-phone service in South Africa next year

Vodacom hopes to launch a commercial satellite-to-phone service in South Africa towards the end of 2027, and will “more than likely” do it with AST SpaceMobile, Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub told TechCentral.

Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, after the release of Vodacom’s interim results, Joosub confirmed that the target applies to South Africa. Direct-to-cell services connect ordinary smartphones to low-Earth orbit satellites, which act as cell towers in space and fill gaps where there is no terrestrial coverage.

AST SpaceMobile has been backed by Vodacom’s UK parent, Vodafone Group, since 2020, and Vodafone used its satellites for what it called the world’s first satellite video call from a standard smartphone in January 2025.

Vodacom also has an agreement with SpaceX’s Starlink, but Joosub said it covers broadband rather than direct-to-mobile services. Vodacom has launched Starlink in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, he said. Its November 2025 deal covered satellite backhaul for rural sites and the resale of Starlink equipment to business customers. Starlink has no South African licence.

Direct-to-cell services won’t work on 2G or 3G phones, and Vodacom will dedicate some of its spectrum to satellite.

Joosub said Starlink was running direct-to-mobile trials in Africa. Airtel Africa switched on a commercial Starlink Mobile service in the DRC in August, carrying text messages and light data such as WhatsApp, but not voice.

Satellite connectivity is one reason Vodacom wants South Africa’s 2G and 3G networks switched off. Direct-to-cell services won’t work on 2G or 3G phones, Joosub said, and Vodacom will dedicate some of its spectrum to satellite. Switching off 3G would also free frequencies for 4G and cut the number of sites Vodacom needs: 3G cells shrink as more traffic is loaded onto them, so they must be packed closer together, while 4G cells keep their size, he said.

His proposal is to stop the inflow of legacy devices first. “You say, look, from six months’ time, nobody can connect 2G or 3G devices or import 2G or 3G devices. Then you give yourself a two-year run-off period, and the numbers will become a lot smaller because the phones will become old,” he said. “Then you can deal with the residual, similar to the TV migration.”

There is no government deadline for the switch-off. Communications minister Solly Malatsi said in November 2024 that it should be market-led, and his department formally dropped the previous administration’s 31 December 2027 deadline in July 2025. Vodacom Group CTO Dejan Kastelic told TechCentral last month that South Africa could be ready to switch off 3G within 12 to 24 months, but that operators would need to agree on a common date, because none wants to go first and hand its 3G customers to a rival.

Kastelic has also said Icasa should make the spectrum once reserved for the abandoned wholesale open-access network available to operators for satellite-to-phone services, priced below its value for conventional mobile use.