On Monday, OneWeb announced the signing of a distribution partnership with the Paratus Group in Africa. Paratus is a PAN-African telecommunications company that will distribute the services of OneWeb in all 37 countries in Africa. OneWeb's LEO (low-earth-orbit) connectivity solutions will be available across Africa through Paratus in 2023. The partnership will particularly focus on ensuring that OneWeb's services reach rural and remote areas of Africa.
This development follows the multi-year announcement from both companies that they are setting up a gateway in Luanda, Angola, which will become operational in the second half of 2023. The new gateway would enable schools, businesses, clinics, government, and hospitals to be connected to the high-speed and low-latency internet of OneWeb.
To offer its connectivity solutions, OneWeb has set up Satellite Network Portals (SNP) in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Angola and Mauritius. The company continues to build and secure strategic partnerships for rolling out its network coverage solutions.
Stephen Beynon, Chief Commercial Officer of OneWeb, said, “Today’s agreement brings us a step closer to realising our mission of bridging the digital divide. By utilising the power of our LEO network, in addition to the scale and expertise of Paratus, I am confident that we will be able to deliver for the African customers and communities that will benefit most from our connectivity solutions.”
Schalk Erasmus, Chief Executive Officer of Paratus Group, said, “The OneWeb distribution agreement is a great achievement for us and affirms our considerable capability and reach in Africa. This agreement will further enable us to deliver on our vision to transform Africa through exceptional digital infrastructure and customer service.”
