Avanti Communications Group, a UK-based satellite operator, that provides Ka-band satellite communications services across the Europe, the Middle East and Africa, announced the official launch of its South Africa-based operations as of 29 August 2018.
The announcement is another example of Avanti’s continued commitment to investing in Africa through a direct local presence backed by in-country solutions to enable and facilitate connectivity through key partnerships both in South Africa and throughout the region. To date, Avanti has invested over U.S.$897 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, with U.S.$143 million in South Africa alone.
Building on the success of its previous high throughput satellites (HTS), Avanti launched its third satellite, HYLAS-4, in April 2018. HYLAS-4 will operate with 64 fixed and 4 steerable beams from five Gateway Earth Stations to significantly extend Avanti’s coverage to West and Central Africa for the first time.
This will provide affordable high-speed satellite broadband services to connect homes, small and medium-sized businesses, schools, enterprises, and mobile operators across Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in rural and remote locations where terrestrial networks are limited.
“Through our reliable high-speed connectivity, we bring the digital era to people, we believe everyone has the right to become a digital citizen, especially those in the remotest areas across Africa,” said Christian Georgeson, Chief Marketing Officer of Avanti Communications.
“Through our technology, we empower our partners, ensuring they deliver always-on connectivity to their customers, wherever they may be. Not only have we invested in our satellites, but we’ve invested heavily in our ground network and our people. We have highly redundant Gateways Earth Stations, ensuring 99.8% availability and have built dedicated Gateways in South Africa, which enables data to land in-country. In addition to our satellites and ground infrastructure, Avanti is committed to local employment opportunities in space, ICT, engineering and communications sectors.” added Georgeson.
The addition of HYLAS-4 means that Avanti completes its coverage across Africa, in addition to having the capability to cover markets across Latin America. These markets can be reached through the satellite’s four steerable beams which can be placed anywhere across the Earth’s disk visible from the orbital slot of the satellite in geostationary orbit.
Avanti’s presence in South Africa comes as the company unveils its new corporate identity to reflect its vision to bridge the Digital Divide in some of the most underserved regions in the world.
Brenden Pronk, Avanti’s Sales Director and Country Manager for Southern Africa explained, “Avanti aims to bridge the digital divide by enabling and facilitating connectivity with existing providers to cover the gaps that exist in the industry. The bigger picture is creating fully connected societies for the benefit of people, communities, SMEs and large enterprises alike.”
To promote its presence in South Africa Avanti has also partnered with local lifestyle and entertainment show #Hashtags, which explores topical issues and trending topics in the country.
