New satellites set to be game-changer for African internet
It is no longer news that satellites have a critical role to play in filling the gap in internet coverage across Africa. It’s almost a cliché that the cost of internet access via satellite has plummeted in recent years, opening up new opportunities and business models.
But, to adapt the ancient saying about Africa by Pliny the Elder, there is always something new out of satellites. Now, the next generation of low-orbit satellites is about to turn data from heaven into a heaven-sent opportunity.
In the past two years, industry leader Intelsat has launched the first of its Epic high-throughput satellites.
They will not only allow a massive increase in data transmission, but also higher power, as a result of smaller, highly focused spot beams. This, in turn, will allow for smaller antennae on the ground, automatic locking onto satellites, and reduced reliance on large, cumbersome satellite dishes.
“Our Epic satellites are the first digital payload satellites, and we’ve launched three over Africa,” said Brian Jakins, Africa regional vice-president at Intelsat. “Highthroughput satellites multiply spot beams over a greater area, so you get more megabytes for less money. This enables 3G over satellite, and even metro ethernet over satellite. The connectivity model is similar to GSM, where you have frequency reuse, so you can deliver significantly higher efficiency.”
A big plus is that existing ground-based systems are not suddenly redundant: “We don’t want people who invested in a lot of infrastructure to invest in new equipment, so it’s backward compatible.”
Jakins calls it a game-changer, especially in conjunction with innovators developing better modems and ground infrastructure, “driving efficiencies normally unheard of in the satellite industry”.
Ironically, big benefits will accrue to mobile operators and internet service providers with extensive ground-based infrastructure. Across the continent, much of the backhaul of 3G and 4G data connectivity is provided by satellite connections. Intelsat has a 44% market share of satellite services across the continent, and its customers in SA include Vodacom, Telkom, MTN, MultiChoice and Liquid Telecom.
“If you can’t guarantee delivery of broadband services, you have the danger of a breakdown in service, which costs you millions for every minute of downtime. That doesn’t happen with what we’ve designed.”
Consumers will also benefit, but will almost never realise it, said Jakins. “You know how many times satellite has touched your life today? The ATM is connected to a satellite. If you use a phone, a lot of the backhaul from the base station to the aggregation point is done via satellite, in conjunction with fibre and microwave signals. At the local Spar, the point-of-sales system is connected to the bank over the internet via VSAT. And many more services will be connected to satellite once 5G is rolled out.”
The new technologies will reduce latency, the lag between a signal being sent and received. This will become more significant when 5G arrives, to connect devices to each other at dramatically improved speeds.
Do you know how many times satellites have touched your life today?