South Africa's largest mobile operator, Vodacom Group, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet services to businesses across Africa.

Despite serving over 223 million users, Vodacom faces challenges in covering rural African regions due to sparse populations, complex terrain, and low smartphone penetration, which make traditional communication infrastructure costly to deploy.

The Africa-focused company, majority-owned by UK-based Vodafone, has been exploring low-Earth orbit satellite technology to bridge connectivity gaps on the continent. This technology enables internet service delivery even in challenging geographical conditions.

In a statement, Vodacom said it will integrate Starlink's satellite-based data relay technology into its mobile network while securing authorization to resell equipment and services from SpaceX's subsidiary to African users.

"We continue collaborating with multiple satellite providers, including the authorized Starlink, alongside AST SpaceMobile and Amazon's Project Kuiper," Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub told Reuters after announcing interim results on Monday.

Vodacom's main African competitor, MTN Group, is also exploring satellite partnerships, while its parent company Vodafone has already established collaborations with Amazon's Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile.