Beyond the limits of terrestrial networks: Direct-to-Cell and the future of global connectivity

March 3, 2026

Claudia Domingues, Partner, Motta Fernandes Advogados, Brazil

The persistent challenge of global connectivity

Despite the accelerated pace of technological development observed over recent decades, global connectivity remains deeply unequal. Today, only 58% of the world’s population has access to mobile broadband, according to recent data from the ITU and the GSMA, which means that billions of people remain fully or partially disconnected.

The global connectivity map is fragmented; while densely populated urban areas concentrate multiple access options, vast regions remain disconnected.

In countries of continental scale such as Brazil, this disparity is even more evident: it is estimated that more than 15 million people remain offline, with a high concentration in rural areas of the Amazon region and in the country’s northern and northeastern regions, according to data from Cetic.br (Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society). In the African continent, the challenge is of an entirely different magnitude: approximately 800 million people remain disconnected, according to the ITU’s Global Connectivity Report, highlighting the digital divide between global centers of economic interest and developing regions.

This disconnect does not result solely from a lack of technology, but from a combination of factors, including limited government initiative, the economic infeasibility of investment, and geographic or structural barriers to the expansion of terrestrial networks. As a result, areas with lower economic returns, typically rural regions, long highway corridors, mountainous areas, dense forests, islands, and remote territories, continue to be marked by persistent coverage gaps.

Such areas are unlikely to be adequately served by projects based on traditional business models, in which the high cost of deploying network infrastructure requires high population density, with a financial situation that allows them to pay for the services, ensuring economic viability. The persistence of this paradigm therefore tends to condemn these regions to perpetual isolation, by keeping them structurally disconnected from communication networks.

Breaking this cycle requires the incorporation of new solutions into the global connectivity ecosystem. It is at this point that satellite infrastructures emerge not merely as an alternative, but as a decisive vector for the universalization of access.

The digital divide as a barrier to human development

The lack of connectivity has long ceased to be a mere technological obstacle and has become a structural factor that deepens and perpetuates social inequalities. In an increasingly digital society, being disconnected, in practice, restricts the exercise of citizenship and limits access to fundamental rights, compromising human dignity.

Digitally isolated populations face severe barriers to accessing education, healthcare, financial services, and direct channels of public policy. “Digital silence” undermines everyday activities and prevents the productive inclusion of these communities in the economy. In rural and remote areas, the absence of connectivity affects productivity, discourages young people from remaining in their communities, and blocks the modernization of local economies, reinforcing cycles of poverty, forced migration, and social isolation.

According to World Bank studies, increases in the penetration of high-quality digital connectivity in developing countries may be associated with GDP growth of up to approximately 2%.

From a macroeconomic perspective, the GSMA projects that the expansion of connectivity could inject several trillion dollars in additional value into the global economy by the end of the decade, by boosting efficiency, innovation, and new business models.

In addition, analyses by the World Economic Forum indicate that the digitalization of public services (digital government) has the potential to generate substantial savings in administrative, logistical, and bureaucratic costs, allowing public resources to be reallocated to essential areas such as healthcare, education, and social protection.

The transformative potential of reducing the absence of digital connectivity is both measurable and significant, with direct impacts on productivity, economic inclusion, and human development.

Satellite solutions as a complement to global connectivity

It is in this context that satellite systems move beyond niche solutions and assume an increasingly strategic role in the universalization of global access. By not depending on local physical infrastructure, satellites provide broad, continuous, and resilient coverage, capable of overcoming geographic barriers and prohibitive costs that constrain the expansion of terrestrial networks.

Historically associated with specific applications, satellites have evolved to integrate modern connectivity architectures, acting as an essential complement to terrestrial networks.

This evolution signals the opening of a new stage in the architecture of global telecommunications, marked by the consolidation of hybrid models in which space progressively ceases to act merely as auxiliary support and becomes a structural component of the global connectivity ecosystem. 

Within this emerging horizon, connectivity tends to shift from something, for which users actively search, to something delivered automatically, in an increasingly continuous and integrated manner, redefining traditional concepts of mobility, coverage, and access.

Direct-to-Cell (D2C): Everyone, always connected

The advancement of Direct-to-Cell (D2C) technology ushers in a new era in global communications. By enabling conventional smartphones to connect directly to satellites, without external antennas or significant hardware or software modifications, this application may democratize universal network access.

Under the commercial models now being developed by major market players, the user experience is seamless: end users keep their mobile phone numbers, SIM cards, everyday usage patterns, and relationship with their mobile network operator, while satellite connectivity is automatically activated whenever terrestrial coverage is unavailable. 

In the D2C architecture, mobile networks gain an orbital coverage layer that operates as an automatic extension of terrestrial service when ground-based cells are not available.

More than a promise or an exercise in futurology, major agreements involving D2C already demonstrate its potential to transform the reality of regions historically neglected by infrastructure investment, converting communication deserts into connected areas.

A recent and significant example is the strategic cooperation between Starlink and Airtel Africa, aimed at serving 14 African markets. With initial operations expected to begin in this year of 2026, this model seeks to integrate low-Earth orbit constellations directly into Airtel’s subscriber base of more than 170 million users, enabling conventional smartphones to operate in areas where terrestrial infrastructure is nonexistent or insufficient, providing access to basic communication services such as messaging and emergency alerts. Similar agreements have been announced for countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and more recently Chile and Peru.

Across all these partnerships, although varying by region and stage of implementation, direct satellite connectivity is primarily focused on essential communication services, such as messaging and emergency alerts, with a projected gradual evolution toward limited voice and low-capacity data services. These offerings do not, in the short or medium term, equate to traditional mobile broadband.

Even without delivering high-speed broadband in the near term, solutions such as these fundamentally disrupt the traditional logic of mobile coverage. The objective is no longer an exhaustive race to extend physical networks to the last kilometer of forest or mountain, but rather to eliminate coverage gaps altogether. By projecting the signal directly onto standard devices, D2C transforms the smartphone into a tool of universal reach, ensuring that safety and access to information no longer depend on proximity to urban centers, but instead on a clear line of sight to the sky.

It is also important to highlight the critical resilience that direct satellite coverage brings to global connectivity, beyond everyday convenience. In natural disasters and emergency situations, terrestrial infrastructure is often the first to collapse, leaving entire populations in absolute isolation precisely when communication is most essential. Satellite networks address this vulnerability by providing a redundant communication layer that is resilient to physical damage on the ground.

Ultimately, the ability to issue an emergency alert or coordinate rescue teams via satellite from a standard mobile device transforms this technology into a decisive boundary between isolation and immediate assistance, elevating connectivity to the status of an essential service for the preservation of life. More than convenience, it is a matter of social resilience, public safety, and continuity of essential services.

Limits and complementarity

Despite its transformative nature, D2C does not replace terrestrial mobile networks. Its role is complementary. LTE/4G and 5G networks may continue to serve as the primary means of high-capacity connectivity in densely populated areas.

There are inherent physical limitations, including traffic capacity, device power consumption, and challenges related to indoor coverage. Moreover, the implementation of D2C requires sophisticated regulatory coordination, harmonized spectrum use, and careful integration with existing networks.

Additional challenges remain with respect to LEO satellites, such as orbital sustainability and spectrum usage, as well as technological constraints associated with GEO satellites, including latency and speed limitations.

Nevertheless, these limitations do not diminish D2C’s strategic value. On the contrary, they reinforce its role as a universal complementary coverage layer, ensuring that no one remains completely disconnected.

What to expect from Direct-to-Cell connectivity

The pace of D2C deployments indicates that the future of connectivity will be hybrid, resilient, and continuous, with dense and efficient terrestrial networks coexisting alongside intelligent space-based systems capable of filling historical coverage gaps.

It is important to note, however, that Direct-to-Cell connectivity, at least in its current and foreseeable stages, will not deliver high-speed or full broadband performance comparable to terrestrial LTE/4G or 5G networks. Its capacity will remain limited and focused on essential communication services at this stage. Nevertheless, even restricted connectivity represents a substantial advance over the current reality in vast regions that today have no coverage at all. By enabling basic access to communication, information, and emergency services where nothing previously existed, D2C has the potential to act as a powerful enabler of digital inclusion, social integration, and access to fundamental services, enabling the next phase of connectivity expansion.

Ultimately, the goal is simple yet essential in the contemporary world: to ensure that everyone can remain connected, everywhere, without geographic or economic exceptions.

Claudia Domingues is a senior attorney with over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. She is currently a partner at Motta Fernandes Advogados, one of Brazil’s leading law firms, where she is responsible for the Infrastructure and Corporate practices. Claudia previously served as Legal and Regulatory Director at Viasat, leading complex regulatory and strategic matters. Her career also includes senior positions at Brasil Telecom, one of Brazil’s major telecommunications companies, and at ANATEL, Brazil’s national telecommunications regulator, as well as advisory work for the governments of Cabo Verde and Angola on telecommunications and digital policy.