NuRAN Wireless Inc. has announced a pilot to evaluate licensed Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite service as a high-performance backhaul solution at a selected rural telecommunications site in Nigeria.
The pilot will be conducted with long-time partner Infratel and will integrate NuRAN’s rural telecommunications infrastructure with LEO satellite connectivity. The companies will assess the technology’s performance, reliability, network integration and cost efficiency under commercial conditions.
The initiative marks NuRAN’s first LEO integration within its network. The company said the pilot is intended to determine whether satellite backhaul can improve capacity, speed and site economics in remote areas where terrestrial connectivity can be constrained or expensive.
NuRAN clarified that it has no direct contractual or commercial relationship with Starlink or SpaceX for the pilot. The satellite service will instead be obtained through third-party service provider arrangements.
The company said successful deployment could support the migration of rural sites to 4G and provide the higher-capacity connectivity required for applications such as edge AI, local computing, content caching and NuEnergy infrastructure.
NuRAN will continue using terrestrial backhaul technologies, including microwave and TV white space, where local conditions and line-of-sight make those solutions practical. Licensed LEO satellite connectivity would provide an additional option for sites where terrestrial backhaul is unavailable, limited or economically challenging.
If the Nigerian pilot demonstrates the expected results, NuRAN said the model could potentially be replicated across its contracted African site portfolio in markets where Starlink service is licensed and available through third-party providers.
These markets include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin, while Cameroon is currently progressing with licensing for the service.
Infratel Managing Director Tunji Alabi said the pilot will provide an opportunity to evaluate LEO satellite connectivity within live commercial networks and its potential to expand reliable, higher-capacity connectivity to underserved communities.
NuRAN said the pilot will help determine whether LEO satellite backhaul can become a scalable connectivity layer for advanced services in remote locations, including AI-enabled applications, edge computing, local content delivery and energy management.
