MTN Group is pursuing partnership with Starlink – Adwoa Wiafe. The Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer (CCSSO) of MTN Ghana, Adwoa Wiafe has said that the MTN Group is currently pursuing partnership arrangements with Starlink and that will impact Ghana as well. 

“In the light of partnerships and partnering MTN Group is collaborating with Starlink so there is that opportunity. As a group, we are also exploring satellite and how that could be used across countries, and we are undertaking pilots in some countries already,” she told journalists at the annual MTN Media Forum in Accra.

This is a confirmation of what former MTN Ghana CEO, Selorm Adadevoh said at his last AGM that MTN’s strategy towards Starlink will be more of partnership and not competition.

The entrance of Starlink into Africa has triggered a lot conversation around the survival of existing telcos and internet service providers (ISPs), given the huge difference between the experience Starlink offers compared with what the existing operators offer. Download speed on a standard Starlink package in more than three times the highest speed on any network in Ghana.

There have also been conversations around price, in that Starlink does not come cheap. Analysts believe Starlink will give Africa’s telcos and ISPs a run for their money in the area of enterprise packages and among the elite. But Starlink falls short in the provision satellite to mobile, which is something it is already curing, starting with a collaboration with T-Mobile in the US.

This is where MTN sees the opportunity – since Starlink does not have telecoms infrastructure in Africa, it will need to collaborate with leading telcos like MTN, which have a widespread coverage in Africa to bring satellite to mobile in Africa.

Indeed, MTN Group CEO, Ralph Mupita, has in recent interview also hinted that in the next 5 years, MTN will pursuing smart partnership strategies to ensure that they leverage on the strengths of others to deliver on the aspirations of customers across Africa. One of those is the collaboration with Starlink at the Group level.

Price War in Kenya

The other issue that came up at the media forum was the recent price war between Starlink and Safaricom in Kenya. In that instance, Safaricom, the leading telco in Kenya boosted internet speeds but maintained the prices for customers, as a strategy to retain in its customers as Starlink entered the market.

But Starlink quickly responded by offering very cheap subscription packages in Kenya, which then pushed Safaricom to opt for partnership with Starlink instead of competition.

Touching on that Kenyan experience, Adwoa Wiafe noted that MTN has always been committed to providing great customer experience, but within the current regulatory environment, where MTN has been named a significant market power (SMP), everything MTN does must be in compliance with the regulatory obligations placed on the company.

Per the SMP obligations, MTN is not supposed to have the cheapest rates on the market. So, any move to increase internet speeds at lower prices like Safaricom did in Kenya, could attract regulatory sanction.

Adwoa Wiafe however assured Ghanaians that MTN is fully aware of where the future is going and they are exploring all the opportunities to ensure that customers continue to get the best of experience on the MTN network.