• At Africa Tech Festival 2022 held earlier this month, 4G connectivity for the continent was a key talking point. 
• Another was the value that satellite connectivity can play in Africa, and in particular Low Earth Orbit satellites.
• Now Q-KON Africa will be a provider for OneWeb’s LEO satellite connectivity in Africa, focusing on schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure.

When we were at Africa Tech Festival 2022 in Cape Town earlier this week, connecting the unconnected was a major theme, with 4G and 3G seen as playing a critical role. One other technology is Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, which is why a recent agreement signed between OneWeb and Q-KON could prove a pivotal step in the growth of LEO satellite connectivity on the African continent.

For those unfamiliar with Q-KON, it focuses on connecting “off-grid” locations through its satellite broadband service, Twoobii, to core networks throughout Africa.

“The OneWeb LEO satellite network will give Q-KON Africa’s Twoobii customers access to high-speed, low-latency broadband to connect even the most rural or remote communities across several African countries,” the company explained in a press release sent to Hypertext.

The aforementioned African countries include South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland (eSwatini), Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

The agreement between both parties is for a five-year period, with it being signed at AfricaCom 2022 earlier this month.

“It will enable Q-KON Africa to unleash the power of OneWeb’s network in order to provide vital internet service and Wi-Fi backhaul to connect schools, hospitals, civil government and other fixed enterprise and fintech services throughout the continent including banking, mining, and backhaul solutions,” added Q-KON.

As for when we can expect this LEO satellite connectivity to start taking shape, both organisations are planning to get things going as early as next year, with it forming part of OneWeb’s strategy for the continent in particular.

“At OneWeb, we believe that connection everywhere changes everything and that’s why we are thrilled to be partnering with the engineering experts at Q-KON Africa to further our mission to connect those hardest to reach to the internet,” noted Ben Griffin, VP Mobility and AMEA at OneWeb, regarding the agreement.

“For us, OneWeb’s global lead and focus to deliver assured business grade,  high-performance satellite services is the perfect option to expand our successful Twoobii Smart Satellite Services for Southern Africa,” enthused Dawie de Wet, Group CEO of Q-KON Africa and chief engineer for Twoobii.