The Outgoing CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh says the company sees Starlink as a strategic partner that will provide an additional channel of connectivity for MTN to serve its customers better.
He was speaking to shareholders at the 6th Annual General Meeting of MTN Ghana.
This week, the Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful announced that Elon Musk’s Starlink will be approved to roll out its more reliable satellite-powered Internet services in Ghana, following the recent widespread disruption on the fibre and microwave-based services.
In answer to a question on how MTN is gearing up for the competition Starlink threatens to pose, Selorm Adadevoh said even though Starlink is offering direct services on a low key in Ghana now, it is a bit too early to see them as competition.
According to him, MTN does not have to compete with Starlink, because “ultimately Starlink provides an alternative source of capacity that is complimentary to the ecosystem to ensure continuity of service delivery.”
Selorm Adadevoh said MTN therefore intends to leverage Starlink’s satellite resources to complement the existing fiber and microwave infrastructure to serve customers even better.
He noted that whereas Starlink is rolling out a model that positions it as a competitor to MTN and others, a better and more efficient model would be for them to collaborate with existing industry players to roll out even faster and wider, and that is something MTN looks forward to.
Meanwhile, the communications minister also talked about government licensing a privately-owned common platform for 4G and 5G networks, where all industry players, particularly telcos can affordably secure spectrum to roll out 4G and 5G networks.
Selorm Adadevoh said MTN is waiting on government to unpack the proposed model so it can know where to plug in.
In 2021, MTN reportedly provisioned over 1,300 cell sites across the country for 5G, with the vision to roll out 5G network in 2022, but that move was botched due to lack of regulatory approval.
Subsequent to that, government announced its intention to set up a common platform where all industry players can have easy and affordable access to spectrum and roll out both 4G and 5G networks simultaneously.