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.
Cassava Technologies and AXON Networks to launch end-to-end AI-driven operator platform in Africa
03 March 2026
Cassava Technologies and AXON Networks have announced a strategic partnership to co-develop, deploy, and manage an innovative Operator-As-a-Service (OaaS) platform aimed at unlocking Africa’s potential in artificial intelligence (AI) and future digital opportunities.
The collaboration was unveiled during the Counder Conference 2026 in Cape Town, an event dedicated to connecting visionary leaders and fostering collaborations that shape the continent’s technological future.
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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.
Find out more Connecting the Central African Republic
27 February 2026
Located between Cameroon and South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR) is a country with a rich culture and natural beauty. However, providing reliable broadband communications and Internet connectivity throughout this landlocked country, and between the CAR and the rest of the world, has been challenging for the country’s social and economic development.
Prior to 2017, Orange CAR, one of the largest communications providers serving the CAR, found that delivering reliable services to its customers was problematic. At that time, 2G and 3G mobile services were the norm in the country, and 4G had not yet been deployed. Approximately 2 million residents – just 38% of the population – had mobile service, with 3G penetration accounting for about 60%, with 2G serving the remainder. Only a small fraction – 11% or approximately 600,000 residents – had Internet access, with an average download speed of 22.55Mbps on fixed connections. Orange CAR was able to address these problems and accelerate the deployment of services to the CAR by making use of SES’s multi-orbit network of MEO and GEO satellites.
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