Future scenarios for the South African broadband LEO satellite industry
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11 March 2026
Dawie de Wet, CEO of Q-KON
The South African and wider African telecommunication industries are highly regulated – and with good reason. It was this regulatory framework that underpinned the success of investments in mobile networks and ultimately, the incredible growth of mobile services across Africa. Yes, any regulatory framework should be dynamic and able to adapt to changing circumstances in order to achieve a balance between incorporating emerging technologies and protecting national interests. However, there is also strength to be found in a certain degree of rigidity.
Find out more SES brings MEO satellite connectivity to refugees in Chad
09 March 2026
This is the first emergency.lu deployment using O3b mPOWER satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) for rapid disaster-response missions.
SES, a space solutions company, is expanding humanitarian connectivity at the Farchana refugee settlement in Chad in cooperation with emergency.lu, the public-private partnership led by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade and the UN Refugee Agency.
In the framework of the Connectivity for Refugees initiative, the deployment uses SES’ O3b mPOWER satellite network to provide dependable, high-speed internet for humanitarian teams and essential services for refugees.
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Starlink: Why all the hype?
03 March 2026
Jens Langenhorst, Specialist RF Engineer and Vice Chair of WAPA (Wireless Access Providers Association)
The South African media landscape has been saturated with Starlink coverage for months. Every ministerial statement, every regulatory development, every parliamentary objection becomes headline news. Yet amid this relentless coverage, a curious question emerges: why Starlink specifically?
The regulatory challenges facing Elon Musk's satellite service aren't unique. Major global technology companies have long navigated South Africa's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) framework when entering the market.
SES and Africa Mobile Network Reach Milestone: Connecting 5.8 Million in DRC, Expanding Rural Coverage
28 February 2026
SES Satellites and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expanded connectivity infrastructure across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), now supporting more than 1,100 base stations and increasing population coverage by 27%, bringing mobile network access within reach for more people, many in rural communities.
There is a clear demand for connectivity across the region, a direct result of the mission to bring rural DRC online. For AMN and SES, that’s not just a percentage, it represents millions of people accessing mobile network services for the very first time.
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