Amazon is in advanced talks to acquire Globalstar, a satellite telecommunications company, in a deal valued at approximately $11.6 billion. The move is aimed at accelerating Amazon’s low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite internet service, and could have significant implications for connectivity across Africa.
No agreement has been finalised, and discussions could still shift or collapse, according to people familiar with the matter. Still, the scale of the potential deal signals how seriously Amazon is competing in a space dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink.
Racing to Catch Starlink
Amazon Leo is currently far behind its main rival. The service has roughly 200 satellites in orbit, trailing Starlink’s constellation of more than 10,000 satellites. Beyond the numbers, Amazon faces a regulatory crunch: the company faces a looming FCC deadline requiring 1,600 launches by July 2026, for which it has already sought a two-year extension.
Acquiring Globalstar would be a shortcut around these bottlenecks. The value of the acquisition lies in trading capital for time, bypassing the lengthy cycles of spectrum applications and ground station construction to directly acquire mature operational capabilities.
The deal is not without complications, however. Apple holds a 20% stake in Globalstar, acquired for $1.5 billion in 2024, and under that arrangement, Globalstar has reserved 85% of its network capacity for Apple’s satellite-based emergency texting feature on iPhones. That arrangement means Amazon must negotiate separately with Apple before any acquisition can close.
Africa Stands to Gain
While the deal is primarily a competitive play in global satellite markets, it could deliver meaningful benefits for Africa, where internet access remains severely limited. About 60% of people on the continent currently lack internet access.
Amazon has already been laying the groundwork for African expansion. Nigeria’s Communications Commission recently authorised Amazon to provide satellite communications services, clearing the way for the company to enter a market already occupied by Starlink, which has operated in Nigeria since January 2023.
Further south, Amazon Leo is partnering with Vanu, a provider of mobile network equipment and services, to bring high-quality internet to rural communities across Southern Africa, starting in South Africa. The economic case for this expansion is compelling. According to an Access Partnership report, the inclusion of non-geostationary satellite orbit systems like Amazon Leo in the SADC’s connectivity mix could generate up to $16.9 billion in annual economic benefits for SADC countries.
A successful Globalstar acquisition would add spectrum, infrastructure, and operational capacity to Amazon Leo’s African push, potentially allowing it to scale faster and at lower cost than building from scratch.
What to Watch
The move reflects a broader trend of hyperscale technology companies investing directly in communications infrastructure to support cloud services, enterprise connectivity, and emerging use cases such as direct-to-device communications.
For Africa, the competition between Amazon Leo and Starlink is ultimately a good thing. More players mean more pressure on pricing, broader coverage ambitions, and stronger incentives to work through local regulatory frameworks.
