Intelsat and Vodacom to deliver sub-Saharan broadband
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Intelsat and Vodacom to deliver sub-Saharan broadband

Satellite provider Intelsat and Vodafone’s South African subsidiary Vodacom have today revealed a partnership for the provision of broadband connectivity to sub-Saharan Africa.

Intelsat will deliver managed broadband services to Vodacom, designed to target the small office/home office (SOHO) and SME market in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our agreement with Intelsat will enable Vodacom to provide our SME and enterprise customers with high-quality, reliable, secure and cost-effective connectivity,” said Vuyani Jarana, chief officer of Vodacom Business.

Africa is working hard to develop its SMEs as part of a regional economic growth strategy, and the partnership for enhanced broadband connectivity is expected to provide a significant boost.

Intelsat will deploy Ku-band satellite broadband capacity to Vodacom, as well as a fully integrated, managed solution to enable Vodacom to operate its service platforms and analyse service levels.

“We worked closely with Vodacom to address their future business demands, providing capacity through traditional wide and high-throughput satellite spot beams to locations where our customers need it most,” said Grant Marais, regional VP for Africa at Intelsat.

When Intelsat launches its 33e satellite in 2016, Vodacom will be able to seamlessly access advanced broadband services for these sub-Saharan customers.

“We look forward to working closely with Vodacom to bring the next generation of satellite broadband solutions to the African SME market,” Marais added.

Intelsat and Vodacom share a longstanding relationship and in November 2012, the two companies partnered for cellular backhaul in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


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