JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: South Africa's largest mobile operator, Vodacom Group, has signed a deal with Elon Musk's Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet for businesses across Africa, the company said on November 12.

Even with a customer base of more than 223 million, Vodacom continues to face challenges in rural Africa, where sparse populations, rugged terrain, and low smartphone penetration make it expensive to build traditional cell towers.

Majority-owned by Britain's Vodafone, Vodacom has been working to close Africa's connectivity gaps by using low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology to deliver internet access to remote or hard-to-reach areas.

Under the agreement, Vodacom will integrate Starlink's satellite network into its mobile infrastructure and will also be licensed to resell Starlink equipment and services to customers across the continent.

"We continue to work with multiple satellite providers, including Starlink, where it has been licensed, as well as AST SpaceMobile and Amazon's Kuiper," CEO Shameel Joosub told Reuters after the company's interim results this week.

Vodacom's main rival, MTN Group, is also pursuing satellite partnerships, while its parent company, Vodafone, has already teamed up with Amazon's Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile.