VOX Telecom says its soon-to-be-launched Ka-band broadband satellite service, YahClick, will help support the South African government's plans to increase internet penetration throughout the country.

Vox recently joined with the Middle East's largest satellite company, Yahsat, to launch Y1-B, a Ka-band satellite that will give users in rural communities access to reliable, affordable broadband satellite services.

Jacques Visser, the YahClick Project Manager from Vox Telecom, said YahClick will increase rural communities’ contribution to economic development.

“We have realised that economic growth in rural communities is being hampered because there is little or poor access to the Internet,” Visser said.

“The Department of Agricultural and Rural Development in the Free State has recently launched a new plan to bring high speed internet to the province.

"It is difficult for businesses to remain competitive outside of large commercial hubs as they have to pay up to 20 percent more than their counterparts in the cities, just to use basic business tools such as Internet or email.”

YahClick, can be installed within a matter of days and will vary in costs, starting at less than R200 per month and ranging in speed from 512kps up to 15Mbps.

Vox said it will also positively impact users in the city as it will act as a backup service at times where their usual connection goes offline due to cable theft or a loss of signal.

YahClick will be distributed through existing @lantic and Vox Telecom sales channels, as well as through more than regional technical staff.

The satellite sent its first signal to Gauteng on June 11 as part of an intensive, pre-launch test period.

"At the moment we're working closely with first-phase customers to test the product in the field.

"We're extremely happy with the results thus far," Visser has said.