Kathleen Morris, Satellite Product Manager at Vox.

The industry revenue for commercial satellites rose to $285 billion in 2023. Accounting for 71% of the world’s space business and providing increasingly capable services and connectivity, satellites are becoming more affordable and accessible. Over the past year, there has been a record number of satellites deployed in a growth segment that has been described by McKinsey as the $1.8 trillion opportunity. Space, it seems, has finally become the new frontier.

Traditionally, GEO has not always been the best connectivity choice. Relied on primarily by companies that don’t have easy access to alternative connectivity solutions, satellite broadband has been expensive while offering limited bandwidth and poor latency. Its impressive reach is as much a benefit as a limitation.

Until recently.

Partnerships are changing the shape of satellite broadband. This connectivity technology is evolving rapidly from a complex service with high costs to a solution for companies that are off-grid and require high availability and performance. Smart GEO technology satellite providers are handing companies exactly what they need – the ability to create VPNs and MPLS networks, prioritise applications, and access fast and reliable connectivity that meets their needs. If they want to slice and dice traffic, prioritise traffic, run a SD-WAN, shave off latency and build high-performance and cost-effective connectivity regardless of their location, now they can.

This new dimension to business satellite services offers companies real value on their investment. All too often, the conversation surrounding GEO satellites has been about the technology and the race into space. It’s the who’s who of satellites arguing about their dominance in the market. The real conversation lies in the value this technology brings to the business on the ground. More importantly, It is built to meet the expectations of South African companies in rural areas. Local means thinking out of the box. Businesses want to know how this satellite connectivity will be maintained, what support they’ll receive, what backups and fail-safes are included. They need to know if the technology is scalable and can realistically deliver the quality of broadband connectivity they need to run their business.

Satellite has changed. It’s built to solve the connectivity problems felt by companies that want more from their connectivity regardless of where their operations are located. For example, Andre Kock and Sons, a livestock auction firm, wanted a connectivity solution that allowed them to communicate easily across operations lying in remote areas. The company was relying on two-way radio services but they offered limited range and couldn’t provide connectivity between farms in different regions. The challenge was to find a way of connecting two-way radio towers across different locations so communication was immediate.

It was the Twoobii Smart Satellite Service from Q-KON, that proved the right fit for the problem. The company used the service to connect its two-way radio towers across different locations into one central network. Satellite can be used to help mines build more agile connectivity solutions and, with Twoobii, they can add even more value on top of their investment. The platform is optimised for off-grid users with limited to no access to mainstream solutions such as LTE, fibre and microwave networks and is reliable, fast and accessible. Available from Vox as part of its many satellite solutions on offer. Compatible with Layer 2, Layer 3 and customised enterprise solutions so it can provide companies with an underlay to SD-WAN and public cloud.

Adding “pay-per-use”, “on-demand billing” and other application focussed commercial models to the technology advantages means end-users can select the exact solution for both performance and cost. With the additional advantages of very high service uptime (+99,95%), seamless core customer network integration and 100% resilient from towers and other infrastructure position Smart Satellite Services as a perfect solution for retail point-of-sale trading, large-scale site monitoring networks and government rural operations.

The capabilities of the technology forms only one part of the conversation. The service level agreements, the support, the control and the ability to apply solutions on top of the satellite that meets very real business needs. Combining the reach and scale of Q-KON with the functionality of Twoobiii, Vox ensures companies in any industry and sector, regardless of location, can operate efficiently with connectivity that’s optimised to their unique needs. And that, at a time when digital is key to growth on a local and global scale, is invaluable.