Eutelsat Group has signed a multi-year agreement with Q-KON to expand Low-Earth Orbit satellite services across Sub-Saharan Africa. The company aims to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity to underserved businesses and communities, especially in Southern Africa.
The expanded partnership with Q-KON builds on the successful 2023 integration of Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity into Q-KON’s Twoobii Smart Satellite Services and the February 2024 launch of digital banking services. According to the terms of the deal, Eutelsat’s OneWeb network will provide significant capacity to Q-KON, allowing for the growth and extension of Twoobii-LEO and expanded broadband services to fulfill the region’s growing need for dependable and fast internet.
“We value our continued partnership with Eutelsat and are excited to take this next step in expanding and scaling up our LEO satellite services across Southern Africa,” said Dr. Dawie de Wet, Group CEO of Q-KON. “This agreement opens up more product flexibility and service differentiation for faster, more reliable connectivity that will empower businesses and support digital transformation across Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Guido Van Sprundel – Sales Director Africa at Eutelsat OneWeb; Riaan Roux Head of Engineering at Q-KON; Murat Ghassan – Regional Vice President for Asia, Middle East, Africa at Eutelsat OneWeb; Frank Wark – Executive of Contract and Commercial at Q-KON, Dawie de Wet – CEO of Q-KON and Philippe Baudrier – Vice President, Africa, Eutelsat OneWeb
The new cooperation will improve the delivery of key services like cloud-based applications, remote healthcare, e-learning, fintech applications, and enterprise connections throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, helping both urban and rural populations. The arrangement, which combines Eutelsat’s superior satellite technology with Q-KON’s local expertise and engineering, intends to provide high-quality internet access with competitive business case metrics to locations where terrestrial networks have yet to reach.
Cyril Dujardin, President of the Connectivity Business Unit for Eutelsat Group, commented: “We are delighted to step up our relationship with Q-KON, and we are honored in the confidence Q-KON has placed in us following our initial successful cooperation. We are excited to continue to work with Q-KON as it leverages cutting-edge satellite network solutions to meet the challenging demands for low-cost, high-availability, and trusted services in Africa.”
