Amazon Leo, the satellite broadband service formerly known as Project Kuiper, is set to make its African debut in South Africa, as Elon Musk's Starlink continues to face regulatory hurdles that have kept it out of the market.
This follows Herotel, a Maziv company, signing a distribution agreement with Amazon Leo. Through its new service, evry, Herotel will bring Amazon Leo-powered satellite internet to residential customers across South Africa.
The companies expect the service to launch commercially in 2027 and potential users can start registering on the evry website.
Amazon Leo is Amazon’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, designed to deliver high-speed internet to areas beyond the reach of fibre and fixed wireless infrastructure.
As an authorised distributor of Amazon Leo for residential customers in South Africa, Herotel will use evry to connect households and small businesses in areas where traditional telecommunications infrastructure has been impractical or unavailable.
The agreement comes as Starlink remains unable to launch commercial services in South Africa because it has yet to secure the electronic communications licences required by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
South African telecommunications regulations require operators to comply with ownership and empowerment rules, including a minimum 30% shareholding by historically disadvantaged South Africans, a requirement Starlink has yet to meet.
Speaking during a media briefing yesterday, Trevor Vieweg, head of global business at Amazon Leo, said the company is fully compliant with South African regulations, with Herotel holding the necessary operating licences.
“Amazon Leo is our low Earth orbit satellite constellation that is designed to connect tens of millions of customers around the globe,” Vieweg said.
“This is a big long-term investment for Amazon. We have been working on this for a number of years and we started deploying the initial constellation of more than 3 000 satellites in April 2025. We have completed 14 launches and we now have 390 satellites in orbit today; and that’s enough for us to start our initial service later this year in certain latitudes and to start connecting South Africa in 2027.”
Beyond existing telecoms infrastructure
Amazon Leo satellites operate in low Earth orbit, much closer to Earth than traditional geostationary satellites, resulting in significantly lower latency.
The constellation is interconnected through high-speed optical mesh links, enabling reliable broadband performance without depending on terrestrial infrastructure.
Users will connect using compact Amazon Leo terminals, with both the Amazon Leo Pro and Amazon Leo Nano antennas to be offered through evry.
Also speaking during the media briefing, Herotel CEO and founder Van Zyl Botha said the agreement will enable the company to extend broadband connectivity to homes and small businesses beyond the reach of conventional telecommunications networks.
“Herotel has signed a distribution agreement with Amazon Leo for low-Earth orbit satellite services, and our goal is to connect homes and small businesses across South Africa,” said Botha.
He noted that expanding connectivity has long been constrained by the lack of fibre backhaul and reliable electricity in many parts of the country.
“In the South African environment, it’s always difficult to reach people, especially where there is no backhaul fibre or power. With the Amazon Leo product, we can have a national reach beyond the existing telecoms infrastructure and we can truly try and connect every South African and business.”
Internet everywhere
The launch comes shortly after Herotel completed its integration into the Maziv group following the conclusion of a three-year regulatory process. Maziv is the holding company for Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel, whose shareholders include Vodacom and Remgro-owned CIVH.
Botha said Herotel’s long-standing focus on underserved communities positions the company to expand satellite broadband across the country.
“Herotel has always focused on areas outside of the metros. We didn’t aim to connect the Joburgs and Cape Towns first but we looked at everywhere else throughout the country to see where people weren't connected and also in the townships where there is a big digital divide.”
He said Herotel began by providing fixed wireless services in small towns before expanding into fibre deployments in 2019 in centres such as Gqeberha and East London, while also establishing a strong presence in North West.
Today, the company operates about 120 offices, employs around 1 400 people and serves more than 350 000 active customers across over 550 towns, cities and suburbs through its fibre and fixed wireless networks.
“Our predominant technology is fibre, which is a great technology compared to the wireless technology that we started with. We’ve always had wireless and fibre but we couldn’t reach everyone in South Africa.
“With the distribution and offices that we have in the country, we can now use the LEO service from Amazon. For South Africa, it means you can now have internet from anywhere in the country,” said Botha.
Local delivery model
In a statement, the companies say evry will be supported by Herotel’s existing national operating base, including local installation, customer service, field operations and support teams across 120 offices nationwide.
They note that this will give the service a local delivery model from launch rather than relying on remote operations.
"We have spent years listening to customers who wanted reliable internet but did not have a practical option,” says Estiaan Ferreira, chief commercial officer of Herotel.
“Evry will give farms, game reserves, rural homes and underserved communities a practical way to get online, with Herotel teams available to support them on the ground."
David Zapolsky, Amazon chief global affairs and legal officer, said the partnership aligns with both companies' shared objective of expanding digital connectivity.
“Amazon Leo and Herotel share the same mission to empower all South Africans through access to high-speed internet. Herotel has spent years building connectivity across South Africa's farming towns, small businesses and communities on the outskirts, and with Amazon Leo, they can now reach even more people.
“This collaboration is about breaking down barriers and unlocking opportunity for millions of people who don't yet have reliable access for work, education, or the services they depend on.”
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