MTN South Africa, in collaboration with Lynk Global, has successfully conducted Africa’s first-ever satellite-to-phone voice call using standard mobile phones.
The historic event took place in Vryburg, a small town in South Africa’s North West Province, and was attended by top executives from both companies, including MTN South Africa’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, Rami Farah, and Lynk Global’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dan Dooley.
“The beautiful thing about this trial is that using the satellite, you are able to connect large, unreached areas, thereby eliminating the connectivity challenges that traditional terrestrial infrastructure faces,” said Farah. “After this trial and the investments to follow, we will be able to connect the unconnected, giving every South African the ability to make calls and send SMSs.”
This marked the first time that MTN’s network services have been delivered via a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite to a regular, unmodified smartphone. The voice call was made using MTN SIM cards, spectrum, and mobile phones, signifying a significant technical and symbolic achievement.
“What’s historic about today,” added Dooley, “is that this was the first-ever voice call between a satellite in orbit and an unmodified cell phone on Earth using MTN infrastructure. It was on MTN phones, with MTN spectrum and MTN South Africa SIM cards.”
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A High-Speed Success in a Narrow Timeframe
The test was conducted under a trial license granted by ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa). A portion of MTN’s existing spectrum was designated for the trial to prevent interference with the area’s standard GSM coverage.
The test had to be precisely timed, as the Lynk satellite passed overhead at a speed of 27,000 km/h, orbiting about 500 km above Earth. The window for communication lasted less than four minutes—from 13:56:54 to 14:01:59.
At 13:59, Farah and Dooley initiated a voice call on unmodified smartphones, successfully speaking for 90 seconds. The test also included SMS functionality, with several messages exchanged in real time, further demonstrating the feasibility of direct satellite-to-phone communication.
A Proof of Concept with Big Future Potential
While this was only a proof of concept, the success represents a major step toward bridging connectivity gaps in rural and underserved regions. MTN hopes to scale the service across South Africa and beyond, enabling voice and SMS access in remote areas where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or nonexistent.
