As Elon Musk’s Starlink continues to wait for regulatory approval to operate in South Africa, satellite operator Avanti Communications says it is expanding its presence in the country.
It is positioning to capture growing demand for enterprise, mobile backhaul and rural connectivity.
Speaking to ITWeb yesterday, Avanti CEO Kyle Whitehill said the UK-based satellite operator already holds the licences required to operate in SA. It sees significant opportunities to connect underserved communities, provide resilient connectivity for businesses and support government-led digital inclusion initiatives.
The comments come as Starlink remains unable to launch commercial services in SA because it has yet to obtain the electronic communications licences required by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
The licensing debate has intensified in recent months amid discussions around equity ownership requirements and potential policy changes affecting satellite operators.
While Starlink has dominated headlines, Whitehill said Avanti has quietly built its South African business around wholesale services.
“I think in three specific areas,” he said when outlining Avanti’s strategy. “The first one is the mobile operators. My satellite covers every community of South Africa, so therefore it doesn’t matter where you are. Today my satellite can connect with you.”
Whitehill, who previously held senior leadership roles in the mobile industry, including at Vodafone, said Avanti was founded around the principle of “connecting the unconnected” across Africa.
He argued that satellite remains the only commercially viable option for extending mobile coverage into many remote areas where traditional infrastructure cannot generate sufficient returns.
“The mobile industry is not going to go to rural communities. They can’t afford to build the networks there, so they are never going to go there,” he said.
Resilient connectivity
Beyond supporting mobile operators, Avanti is targeting enterprise customers that require highly-resilient communications infrastructure.
“As you also know, because of the lack of integrity of a lot of their networks, you have to have resilience," Whitehill said. “We will provide resilient connectivity to enterprise customers because satellite is 100% available.”
He cited supermarket retailer Spar as one example, saying Avanti provides primary or secondary satellite links for stores and distribution facilities across SA.
The company’s third priority is connecting schools, although Whitehill acknowledged progress has been slower than hoped.
“We passionately believe educating children helps to develop the future prosperity of any country.”
Despite holding discussions with government, large-scale deployment has proved difficult because connectivity represents only a small portion of the overall cost of equipping schools.
“The connectivity is actually the cheapest part of it,” he said. “It’s all about the upfront investment.”
Whitehill added that although international funding is available for digital education initiatives, projects often stall because financing takes too long to reach implementation stage.
“My frustration is there's a lot of money, particularly in the United States, that’s happy to fund the projects, but they’re always slow to release money and slow to get money to governments to invest into projects like that.”
Welcome competition
While Starlink’s absence has created space for existing satellite providers, Whitehill dismissed suggestions that Avanti benefits from keeping competitors out of the market.
“Competition is good for the marketplace,” he said. “I’ve competed from the first day I started my job. We’ll have competition for the rest of our lives.”
Instead, Whitehill said the issue is ensuring all satellite operators comply with the same regulatory framework.
“If I had to do this, then you have to do this as well. That is not fear of getting some structural advantage. My issue's not Starlink,” he added. “It’s simply about whether it’s fair the way they’re coming to the marketplace.
“As long as they comply with all of the laws and regulations of the land, they should be welcomed to come into the country."
Unlike Starlink, which primarily targets residential broadband customers through direct consumer subscriptions, Whitehill said Avanti operates in different market segments.
“Starlink are going to come to your home and say, ‘Let me install the equipment and deliver broadband to your home’. I see them as a very direct competitor to all of the mobile operators and fixed wireless access providers.”
By contrast, he said enterprise and government customers require significantly longer sales cycles built on trust and long-term relationships.
“When you go and talk to enterprise and government, they’re complicated. It takes a long time to build trust and a long time to get contracts.”
Strong partnerships
Although the satellite industry has increasingly shifted towards low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations, Avanti has not deployed its own LEO satellites.
Instead, the company has partnered with Eutelsat OneWeb through South African telecommunications company Q-KON to offer LEO services where required.
“We have not seen a big demand for LEO yet,” Whitehill said. “It’s not really going to take off until Mr Musk and the South African government resolve the position.”
He nevertheless believes satellite technology has evolved dramatically in recent years, narrowing the performance gap with terrestrial broadband.
“First of all, because we are 36 000 kilometres in space, we see the whole country, we see the whole continent,” he said.
“The second advantage we have is that we can now compete on performance. We can deliver over 400Mbps, so for day-to-day usage you would not see any difference in performance.”
The biggest change, according to Whitehill, has been affordability. “Satellite pricing has dropped probably by 60% to 70% over the last few years. The only thing I cannot do is compete with fibre on the pure amount of capacity that is available.”
Locally, Avanti works with several South African partners, including Q-KON, BCX and Paratus, while also providing rural mobile backhaul services for MTN.
Whitehill said the company continues to invest in its South African operations, including expanding ground infrastructure and growing its local workforce.
“We’re building a new ground station because all of our traffic stays in South Africa,” he said.
He also expects staffing levels to almost double over time. “We have about 10 to 12 people now. I can see that growing to 20 over a period of time as we grow our business.”
African footprint
Beyond South Africa, Avanti has expanded its African footprint with offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Angola as it secures licences across the continent.
"What we've been busy with is building infrastructure, building market access and building the ability to deliver," Whitehill said.
He pointed to Kenya as one of Avanti's flagship education projects, where satellite connectivity supports an online adaptive learning programme serving approximately 300 schools and around 300 000 learners, primarily girls.
“We have fantastic data that shows that the girls can learn 18 months’ worth in less than nine months.”
Looking ahead, Whitehill expects satellite communications to become an increasingly important pillar of Africa's telecommunications landscape.
“The satellite industry’s moved from being very stable and very steady to probably being the most exciting and dynamic part of the telecoms industry,” he said.
“What the satellite industry is doing is bringing a whole new type of technology, delivering it in a different way to different communities. I think that’s what's exciting.”
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