OneWeb’s constellation of satellites should be fully operational in 2023. Pending final deployments, the company is stepping up investments to ensure the distribution of its services in Africa in a context marked by strong demand for high-speed connectivity. debit.

Satellite operator OneWeb announced on Friday, November 18 that it has signed a five-year distribution agreement with integrated connectivity solutions provider Q-KON Africa. The latter will rely on OneWeb’s growing constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed Internet services in the African countries where it is present.

The countries concerned by this contract are: South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. “  OneWeb’s technology innovations will deliver 100 Mbps data speeds and 70 msec low latency, allowing us to better serve the business, enterprise and financial markets,  ” said Dawie de Wet, Chairman and CEO of Q-KON Africa.

The deal is part of OneWeb’s investment to gain a foothold in the fiercely competitive African Internet connectivity market, driven by growing demand for broadband connectivity and accelerating transformation digital. Indeed, space technology has proven to be essential in bringing the Internet to unconnected populations, including those living in remote areas that are difficult to access for the terrestrial networks of telecom operators.

The partnership between OneWeb and Q-KON Africa is expected to help reduce the digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa where only 40% of the adult population is connected to mobile Internet, according to the report “The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022” by the World Association of Telephone Operators (GSMA).

Source: Agence Ecofin