Airtel has switched on Africa’s first commercial satellite-to-mobile service in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company says the launch marks a turning point in its push to close the continent’s connectivity gap. The service works through a partnership with Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink. It lets Airtel customers with ordinary smartphones send text messages and use light-data apps like WhatsApp in areas where network towers don’t reach. Customers just need a clear view of the sky.
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This is different from older satellite phone technology. Customers don’t need to buy a separate satellite device, dish or antenna. When a phone loses connection to Airtel’s ground network, it automatically links to the nearest satellite in Starlink’s direct-to-cell constellation. That constellation currently has around 650 satellites in orbit. The signal then routes back through Airtel’s core network, as though the customer were roaming. TechBooky reported these details first.
Why did the DRC go first? Partly, it comes down to scale. The country is roughly the size of Western Europe. Much of it is covered by dense rainforest, rivers and rugged terrain. That makes traditional cell towers expensive to build and hard to maintain, Innovation Village reported. A single rural tower can cost operators up to $150,000. That price tag has left large stretches of the country, and the wider region, without reliable mobile coverage.
Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar called the DRC launch a significant step. He said it extends connectivity beyond what ground infrastructure alone can offer. He also said the deployment gives Airtel a blueprint. The company plans to expand the service gradually across its 14 markets in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Technext24. Airtel DRC Managing Director Thierry Diasnova added that the launch followed months of groundwork. It builds on a successful pilot Airtel ran in Kenya in March, testing Starlink’s mobile data and messaging services.
The rollout also builds on a bigger deal. Airtel Africa and Starlink announced a strategic partnership in December 2025 to bring Direct-to-Cell satellite connectivity across Airtel’s markets. Space in Africa reported at the time that the service would start in 2026. It would begin with select data apps and text messaging, subject to regulatory approval in each country.
Starlink now operates in 29 African countries, Technext24 reports. Still, the DRC deployment is its first commercial direct-to-cell launch on the continent. Airtel Kenya is next in line. The operator is waiting on clearance from the Communications Authority of Kenya to launch a similar direct-to-phone satellite service for 4G and 5G smartphones. That would make it the first operator in Kenya to offer the technology.
Airtel isn’t positioning this as a replacement for its existing network. Instead, it’s a complement, built to fill coverage gaps in remote areas rather than compete with infrastructure in cities and towns. A large share of Africa’s population still lacks mobile internet access. This launch opens a new front in the race to connect the continent’s hardest-to-reach communities, one satellite pass at a time.
