Nov 12 (Reuters) - South Africa's largest mobile

operator Vodacom Group has signed an agreement with

Elon Musk's Starlink to deliver high-speed, low-latency

broadband internet for businesses across Africa, the telecom

firm said on Wednesday.

Despite Vodacom's footprint of over 223 million customers,

rural Africa remains a tough frontier. Sparse populations,

difficult terrain, and low smartphone penetration make

traditional tower rollouts costly.

The African company, majority owned by Britain's Vodafone ( VOD )

, has been seeking to close connectivity gaps across the

continent through low-earth orbit satellite technology which can

help provide internet even in tough terrains.

Vodacom will integrate Starlink's satellite technology for

data relay into its mobile network and will be authorized to

resell equipment and services from the SpaceX-owned firm to

customers in Africa, the company said in a statement.

"We continue dealing with multiple satellite providers,

including Starlink, where Starlink has been licensed, including

AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ) as well as Amazon Kuiper," CEO Shameel Joosub

told Reuters after Vodacom's interim results on Monday.

Vodacom's bigger Africa rival MTN Group is also

exploring partnerships with satellite providers, while parent

Vodafone ( VOD ) has teamed up with Amazon's LEO satellite constellation

Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS ).

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Nqobile Dludla

in Johannesburg; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)