OneWeb, a global communications network powered from space, has signed a distribution partnership agreement with Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, to help deliver OneWeb’s high-speed, low latency LEO connectivity services to government and enterprise customers across wide swathes of the continent
The partners will deliver satellite communications services for a wide range of use cases, including for connectivity in rural areas, agriculture, hospitals, hotels, schools and in the energy and mining sectors. OneWeb and Airtel Africa will also provide critical backhaul in unserved and underserved regions.
This announcement builds upon OneWeb’s existing initiatives in Africa, including installations of Satellite Network Portals (SNP) in Angola, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal and Mauritius.
Ben Griffin, VP mobility and AMEA at OneWeb, said, “At OneWeb, we believe that connection everywhere changes everything so we are excited to be working with Airtel Africa to enhance OneWeb’s connectivity solutions across the African continent. This is a strategic fit, given our shared commitment to resiliency and excellence in communications services and the partnership represents another exciting milestone on our path to delivering global connectivity. We look forward to delivering high-performance service across Africa, even in the hardest to reach places.”
Luc Serviant, group enterprise director, Airtel Business at Airtel Africa, commented, “Internet penetration is rising across Africa and systems are even more connected as the digital transformation is driving growth amongst organisations. Through our partnership with OneWeb, we will support SMEs, entrepreneurs, corporates and governments to do business everywhere in Africa, with low latency and highly resilient communication services. OneWeb and Airtel Africa will begin trialing service in South Africa in September, with plans to achieve full coverage in 2023 across Airtel Africa’s footprint, comprising 14 countries in East, Central and West Africa.”
