Paratus Group partners with OneWeb, a global telecommunications company to build a satellite gateway in Luanda, the capital of Angola that will be operational in the second half of 2023
The new gateway will enable the provision of high-speed, low-latency access to businesses, government, schools, clinics, and hospitals in underserved areas as well as low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services to numerous nations in the region.
The teleport, which will connect to OneWeb’s LEO infrastructure to connect Africa and the rest of the world, will consist of a network hosting facility and 16 antennas.
This is the first of numerous planned satellite gateways across Africa, according to OneWeb.
According to Rolf Mendelsohn, Chief Technical Officer of Paratus Group, “with this agreement, we are taking another giant step in realizing our plan to use Angola as a communications hub for the region.”
Read also: Paratus Partners With OneWeb To Build Satellite Gateway In Angola
What This Project Mean to Paratus and One Web
It reinforces their exceptional capability in creating top-notch telecommunications infrastructure in Africa that they have been chosen as OneWeb’s preferred partner to install the gateway in Angola.
They can effectively and cheaply close that gap by setting up OneWeb teleports linked to many LEO satellites.
This arrangement, the recently built Paratus fiber connection to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the opening of the Paratus Group’s data centers in Zambia and Namibia, and coverage in every province of Angola demonstrate that Paratus has the required infrastructure to provide a highly advanced network hub in Angola and one that permits expansion outside of its borders.
According to Joe Paciaroni, Director of Ground Infrastructure at OneWeb, the need for LEO satellite solutions is evident when you consider the breadth and longevity of the digital divide and the connectivity constraints for enterprises operating in rural or distant places. Only 50% of people worldwide have mobile internet access, and many live in Africa. He started that they can easily and cheaply bridge that gap by putting in OneWeb teleports connected to hundreds of LEOs.
They have decided to work with Paratus Angola because the company is based in Africa, fully comprehends market expectations, invests in addressing them, and is dedicated to improving African connections through first-rate digital infrastructure.
The teleport, which will connect to OneWeb’s LEO infrastructure, will have 16 antennae and a hosting network facility.
Zambia is set to move from using Analogue satellite to Digital satellite
Satellites Galore by Paratus
Angola’s gateway construction announcement follows Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet service gaining a license to operate in Malawi after receiving permits in Nigeria and Mozambique.
Paratus Angola stated during its rebranding earlier this year that it intends to leverage its resources, including offices in seven SADC countries, four data centers (two of which are in Angola), and five satellite teleports with more than 4,000 customer sites, in order to double its revenue within the next five years.
On its site, the pan-African corporation presently runs two data centers, the first of which opened in 2017 and is filled with more than 1,500 servers. With a capacity of more than 7,000 servers, the second one debuted in 2019.
Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia are the seven African nations where Paratus has operational offices. The company also offers ICT network solutions, satellite connectivity, and infrastructure in more than 35 other African nations.
OneWeb announced its plans to deploy hundreds of low-orbit satellites in 2019 that will offer Internet connectivity to everyone in the world and raised US$1.25 billion in finance, with the Government of Rwanda as one of the investors. Along with US stations in Alaska, Connecticut, and Florida, OneWeb maintains facilities in Kazakhstan, Norway, and Portugal.