Intelsat pursues Africa’s unconnected
January 19, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Intelsat is making a concerted commitment to enhancing day-to-day network quality and helping African communications service providers (CSPs) deliver secure and affordable connectivity across the continent.
“Satellite communications providers (CSPs) have historically rushed to the rescue in the aftermath of a natural or manmade calamity that rendered a local terrestrial network unavailable. Today, Intelsat is making a concerted commitment to enhancing day-to-day network quality and helping African CSPs deliver secure and affordable connectivity across the continent,” said Intelsat’s Director of Sales, Africa Hans Geldenhuys in a blog post.
“Africa is among the most complex environments for any communications service provider seeking to deliver high-quality and consistently available connectivity to the people who need it. Regional factors and geographical realities contribute to the difficulties of delivering uninterrupted, high-speed communications on par with what is commonplace across most of the rest of the world,” added Geldenhuys. “Ensuring underserved populations in Africa have access to broadband connectivity is critical. Without access, millions of people risk falling irretrievably behind the rest of the connected world.”
Intelsat claims it is the first satellite operator to provide satellite communications services in the continent.
“Intelsat is now leading the development of our ‘next first’ — a reliable and widely available communications network in Africa. Our team is doing this by investing in the development of a lasting and sustainable communications infrastructure across the entirety of the continent,” commented Geldenhuys.