Satellite technology provider Avanti Communications Group plc has signed a three-year Master Distributor Agreement on its HYLAS 4 and HYLAS 2 satellites with Vox Telecom, a South African end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider and telecommunications company.
The partnership enables Vox to use Avanti’s satellite fleet, which provides full coverage across sub-Saharan Africa, to deliver a cost-effective and reliable high-speed broadband service to the remotest areas in the region.
Avanti has invested over $143m in local infrastructure and new offices in South Africa. The local team will support Vox as it deploys new services to rural and underserved areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Vox will also benefit from Avanti’s HYLAS 4 backhaul services which integrate seamlessly into mobile networks, enabling Internet of Things (IoT) services.
This looks like another breakthrough for Ka-band services in the region, as Jacques Visser, Head of Wireless at Vox, notes. He says: “The local landing station for HYLAS 4 in South Africa opens new opportunities for Ka-band satellite in the SME markets and we expect Ka-band to play a more prominent role in the SD-WAN space.”
Avanti says it has invested $1.2bn in the latest Ka-band satellite technology and shaped it to meet its customers’ aspirations. Through its HYLAS satellite fleet and partners in 118 countries, its network provides internet service to an end market of over 1.7bn people.
