Even with the scores of fibre optic cables that have landed on the African coasts, satellites are still being used to boost Internet connectivity in the African regions, this is according to satellite operators attending the Satcom Africa conference this week in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The satellite operators say that as much as the fibre optic cables bring unmatched bandwidth, satellites remain the only option in areas where fibre infrastructure is not economically viable.
“There is a growing demand for satellite broadband services in Africa, since the dozens of optic fibre cable networks now reaching the continent’s shores will – at least initially – have limited penetration inland,” Vinay Patel, senior sales director, sub-Saharan Africa of Hughes Network Systems said, while speaking at the Hughes annual regional seminar alongside the SatCom Africa 2012 conference.
Patel said that Hughes had shipped more than 78 000 very small aperture terminals (VSATs) to Africa to deal with the increased demand.
Hence the company is now looking to expand throughout the continent while using its base offices in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa as the launching pads, Patel explained.
The latest technology in satellite technology will be used on the Yahsat 1B satellite to be launched later this year. This will be the first Ka-band (high-throughput satellite technology, with more than 100 times the capacity of conventional Ku-band satellites) to provide broadband Internet to South Africa and the rest of African countries.
Eutelsat, also participating in Satcom Africa, said it will soon launch two satellites, the EUTELSAT 70B and EUTELSAT 3B in late 2012 and early 2014 in that order.
The new satellites are expected to improve connection of telecom and mobile phone operators, video companies and government service providers with regional coverage and connectivity linking Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
Late last year, Internet penetration in Africa was at 13.5 percent. The continent has a density of an estimated 1.4 telephone lines per 100 people. At the same time, the number of mobile connections has grown by about 30 percent each year in the past one decade. It is expected to reach more than 735 million of the continent’s 1.03-billlion people by the end of this year.
SatCom Africa is the continent’s largest satellite communication forum that also serves as exhibition platform. It focuses on bringing together end-users and suppliers of satellite technology towards finding cost effective and reliable communication solutions.
The annual conference offers a platform for exploring and examining new revenue streams and key technologies. Operators and developers also get an opportunity to gain valuable insight into implementing successful business models.
This year’s conference was scheduled for May 21 to 24.
