Cell C is in discussions with SpaceX’s Starlink and with Amazon Leo about both reselling their satellite broadband products and a possible direct-to-device offering, CEO Jorge Mendes said.

Mendes would not give details, saying the talks remain confidential. “We’re in discussions with Starlink. We’re in discussions with Amazon. We’re in discussions with everybody,” he said, describing the conversations as being about which technologies fit which customer segments and coverage areas.

Asked whether the discussions covered coverage arrangements or the resale of satellite services to Cell C’s retail customers, Mendes said both. “We could resell their products. We could unlock potentially a direct-to-device proposition with them.”

The comments fit a strategy Mendes has described as network agnostic, or a network of networks. Cell C runs on Vodacom and MTN infrastructure rather than its own radio access network, and wholesale is now its fastest-growing segment. Mendes argues terrestrial and non-terrestrial connectivity are complementary rather than competing. “It’s good for the consumer, bringing prices down,” he said.

Amazon Leo found a route into South Africa in July by signing a distribution agreement with Herotel, the Maziv-owned ISP, which will sell the service under a new brand, Evry, from 2027. Herotel holds the licences; Amazon holds none. Icasa has said in a recent notice that satellite operators cannot currently obtain the network licences they need, and that the realistic route to market runs through an existing licence holder.

Non-exclusive

Herotel’s arrangement with Amazon is non-exclusive, meaning other partners are likely to emerge in time, possibly before the first Amazon Leo services are launched in the country.

Starlink remains unlicensed after refusing to meet the requirement that licensees be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.

Communications minister Solly Malatsi gazetted a policy direction in December instructing Icasa to recognise EEIPs as an alternative. Icasa said in May it could not give effect to that direction without an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act.

Read: Cell C launches 5G

Both MTN and Vodacom have direct-to-cell programmes, and neither has launched commercially. MTN South Africa claimed the country’s first satellite direct-to-mobile call, placing a voice call and sending an SMS from Vryburg in North West over Lynk Global’s satellites, using unmodified handsets on its own licensed spectrum with trial approval from Icasa. Vodacom Group parent Vodafone is an AST SpaceMobile shareholder with exclusive rights to sell AST-based services in its European and African markets, and Vodacom has partnered with Amazon Leo for backhaul.