iSAT Africa, a UAE-based company that develops innovative mobile connectivity solutions for unconnected communities in Africa, has signed a three-year partnership agreement with Luxembourg-based SES Networks to bring 4G services to people living in rural East Africa. Under the deal, iSAT Africa will utilise the satellite telecommunications network provider’s constellation of medium earth orbit O3b and O3b mPOWER satellites, it announced.
iSAT Africa – a subsidiary of Wananchi Group Holdings, Mauritius, a fast-growing fixed satellite solution and professional service provider in Africa – will use the tie-up to scale its network to meet pent up demand. The fibre-like connectivity solution will enable local mobile operators to deploy 4G services to close the digital divide in the region. Rakesh Kukreja, Founder and Managing Director of iSAT Africa, pointed out that with the benefit of SES Networks’ resources it does not ‘just believe in providing connectivity to everyone across Africa. It is also about providing differentiated, profitable and reliable services that will allow various businesses to grow’. Meanwhile, John-Paul Hemingway, Chairman and CEO of SES Networks, said: ‘The O3b and O3b mPOWER systems will easily enable the deployment of 4G services and high-performance networks for cloud applications, wherever they are found in the area. The improved flexibility and scalability of O3b mPOWER will truly connect Africans living in underserved areas in the most economically viable way’.
