Satellite helps bridge digital divide in Africa
There are many remote regions in Africa where it is easy to feel isolated from the rest of the world.
There are many remote regions in Africa where it is easy to feel isolated from the rest of the world. Broadband is scarce and Internet connections are not only rare, but notoriously unreliable.
Africa is vast and very rural in many parts. The continent is not only massive in terms of land mass, but in the potential that it represents to businesses across all industries. Corporations from all over the globe are eyeing Africa as the next place where business is set to boom. However, making this potential a reality will require overcoming some major obstacles as well as ensuring robust communications infrastructure is in place.
"The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2015 Report" by GSMA revealed that plans to bring Africa up to speed in terms of connectivity have realised some success. However, totally bridging the digital gap between Europe and the US, and Africa, is still a very long way off.
The report revealed that mobile broadband penetration in Africa is to grow from a little over 20% to nearly 60% by 2020. The continent represents enormous potential to industries of all types and sizes, but it also has significant challenges, including its sheer size, geographical differences and the plain fact that there are many regions where the terrain is not suitable, or that are hard to reach with communications services for other reasons.
Satellite is the best and most reliable way forward, and will undoubtedly have a really positive impact on the continent. Africa has come a long way technologically, particularly in terms of cellular network coverage, but there's little doubt that ‘last mile' coverage remains a major bug bear in terms of bringing reliable Internet coverage to the continent, not only in remote regions, but in urbanised areas too.
Satellite is the most promising solution that can provide reliable connectivity to remote and urban areas. Many are under the impression that satellite Internet is just too expensive to be a viable solution in Africa. This is simply not the case. There has been a surge in the number of satellite Internet service providers into Africa, which in turn has lowered the costs, and made the technology far more affordable.
Q-KON offers an affordable, uninterrupted, reliable, high-performance satellite solution to individuals, corporates and smaller businesses across the continent, even in the most hard to reach locations.
Satellite Internet has a multitude of advantages. It is extremely fast to deploy irrespective of location, and the last mile connectivity pain point is taken out of the equation, as are the associated limitations. Cable theft isn't an issue either, and transport costs are significantly reduced, as is the overall delivery time and process.
Satellite is especially useful in industries that rely heavily on being in constant communications. These include financial services, educational institutions, healthcare providers and of course the agricultural sector. Satellite internet is the ideal service for any remote places, or areas where broadband is not ubiquitous, because access to it is simple and straightforward and can be done any time, regardless of location.