Millions of South West Africans to get first mobile services
Paratus Group now has a multi-year agreement with satellite operator OneWeb to build a gateway in Angola for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services into several countries in South West Africa. From June 2023 the Luanda gateway is expected to be running high-speed, low-latency broadband for businesses, the government and health services in under-serviced areas. The teleport will consist of 16 antennas and a network hosting facility, linking OneWeb’s LEO infrastructure to Africa, said a statement from Paratus.
The new OneWeblink follows other notable achievements by Paratus’ African division, which describes itself as ‘the backbone of African connectivity’. It now runs fibre to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with Paratus Group data centres in Zambia and Namibia and coverage in all of the Angolan provinces. This gives Paratus the requisite infrastructure to provide a network hub in Angola that allows for expansion beyond its borders, it claims.
“With this agreement, we are taking another giant step in realising our plan to use Angola as a communications hub for the region,” said Paratus Group chief technical officer of Rolf Mendelsohn. Selection as the preferred partner to install the gateway in Angola for OneWeb reaffirms its superior capability, Mendelsohn claimed.
Michele Franci, chief of delivery and operations at OneWeb said mobile internet penetration is still only 50% and that installing OneWeb teleports linked to hundreds of LEO satellites helps OneWeb bridge the digital divide effectively and affordably. “We have chosen to partner with Paratus Angola because the group is rooted in Africa,” said Franci, “it totally understands and invests in meeting market demands and is committed to transforming African connectivity.”