Overview:
MTN Uganda has started selling Starlink satellite internet to businesses in remote areas. The first showcase was a school in Zirobwe that had struggled to get online.
MTN Uganda has started selling Starlink satellite internet to businesses and institutions in parts of the country where mobile and fibre networks are weak or unavailable.
The company launched the service, MTN Starlink for Business, on Wednesday at Libra International School in Zirobwe, where it said it had been running a trial connection.
MTN said it is an authorised reseller of Starlink products and will provide installation, account management and customer support locally. Starlink, owned by SpaceX, delivers internet through low-Earth-orbit satellites rather than ground-based infrastructure.
Sylvia Mulinge, the chief executive officer of MTN Uganda, said the service targets enterprises in remote and underserved areas.
“At MTN, we believe that where you are located should not determine how far you can go,” Mulinge said.
She said the satellite service would sit alongside MTN’s mobile and fibre services rather than replace them. Organisations could use it as their main connection, as a backup, or where a connection must be set up quickly, she said.
MTN said likely users include organisations in healthcare, tourism, agriculture, mining, energy, construction and humanitarian work, particularly those with sites beyond the reach of conventional networks.
At Libra International School, the director, William Sekabembe, said the school’s location outside major urban centres had made reliable internet hard to get. He said earlier fixes, including signal boosters, had been expensive and had fallen short of the school’s needs.
“Connectivity was a major challenge for us because we are an international school focused on using technology to improve learning,” Sekabembe said.
He said poor connectivity had disrupted classroom work, online research, communication with parents and the school’s digital systems.
Since the trial began, Sekabembe said, students have found research easier, communication with parents has improved, and the school’s examination and management systems are running more efficiently. He said the connection now covers the entire campus, including the computer rooms. He described the speed as “fantastic” and the reliability as “top of the range”.
MTN said the launch forms part of its Ambition 2030 strategy. The company did not disclose pricing for the service.
MTN Uganda reported 24.2 million subscribers and 12 million active data users for the period ended December 31, 2025.