Satellite plays a crucial role in broadband access in Sub-Saharan Africa

 

 

A recent report by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization or CTO in Africa revealed that 40% of the population in the Sub-Saharn region remain without broadband access. Most of these areas are beyond the reach of telecom providers and pose significant geographic challenges that make it difficult to build terrestrial fibre network.

 

The CTO’s report suggested the use of satellites to complement the terrestrial networks, and fill in the gaps in broadband projects. The cost of using VSAT systems to harness the power of satellites have gradually gone down over the years making internet from satellite more affordable, and thus, more practical.

 

Aside from the drop in cost, the emergence of more powerful birds using the Ka band spectrum also presents opportunities. Ka band satellites are the logical successors to the Ku band birds, and they provide higher-capacity that could mitigate the strain on older spectrums. Bandwidth-intensive applications can look into the service too, especially with the increase in smartphone users across the globe.

 

What the study by the CTO points out is how satellite communications has become crucial for the success of broadband projects being implemented in the African continent. Improved technologies have made it an ideal alternative that is suited to solve last mile coverage problems.

 

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