The satellite market has seen phenomenal growth in Africa in the past five years and will continue to do so in the near future, says satellite services provider Hughes Network Services.
This is despite speculation by ICT commentators that the satellite business will wane as Africa builds undersea cable and fibre infrastructure.
Most of the satellite business comes from West Africa, where Nigeria has a large population and regional satellite operators are providing localised and international services, says business development director Sean Victor.
The SADC region is the second-fastest growth area, with East Africa coming in third, he says. In SA, a large chunk of the business is generated by corporate clients, who have presence in other countries, he says.
Dave Rehbehn, a senior director of Hughes' North American division, says sceptics overlook the fact that satellite providers also provide cellular backhaul connectivity to cellular telecoms providers.
Hughes is a big player in the GSM market, and as new cellular operators and GSM operators are licensed and existing operators expand their networks, the need for satellite solutions also grows, he says.
Hughes provides satellite services in Africa through the channel (telecoms providers and corporates), and has 70 customers operating out of 44 000 sites in Africa, says Rehbehn.
"Carriers cannot afford to run terrestrial infrastructure on every corner of the world, and the ability to fill those broadband gaps, together with the increasing number of new applications, fuels the market. That is what we see in the foreseeable future," he says.
Oil companies, as the secondary business that surrounds oil-rich areas, also drive the strong need for satellite services, notes Soheil Mehrabanzad, Hughes' Middle East Africa GM.
Mehrabanzad also notes that the technologies do co-exist peacefully through the provision of hybrid solutions. "It's not an either or situation, they will co-exist."
Mature market
Victor notes that SA is a reasonably mature market, with the need for digital content driving satellite services.
"We expect to see the triple play or quad play market growing significantly, and that includes pay-TV with Internet, video on-demand and Internet," he says.
Hughes is also starting to see some traction in its e-government projects. The company has an e-health service project in Limpopo, and provided solutions that were used in the 1994 elections, he notes.
There are many opportunities for satellite in SA, and Hughes Network is in discussions with newly-licensed local pay-TV entities. Victor would not provide further details as to the nature of the discussions with the pay-TV providers.
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