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With the direction of data costs in South Africa expected to make a considerable shift, MzansiSat chief operating officer Victor Stephanopoli believes that satellite broadband technology could be a stable connectivity alternative for South Africans in the foreseeable future.
MzansiSat is a Stellenbosch-based satellite company which specialises in using satellite technology to enhance connectivity and improve Internet speed in South Africa. A long-term goal of the company has been to launch a geostationary satellite to this end by 2022.
The Competition Commission released its Data Service Market Inquiry report in February, which recommended that mobile network operators Vodacom and MTN reach agreement within two months with the Commission to reduce data prices.
The Commission particularly wanted to see a reduction in costs for monthly bundles, and to address the structure of data pricing, reducing the cost per MB for smaller sub-1GB bundles relative to the 1GB price.
Stephanopoli says satellite broadband technology solutions come with a host of advantages, including that these technologies are not influenced by factors such as breakage or other terrestrial impacts.
"As satellites are orbiting in the atmosphere, there is a notable difference in where satellite connectivity can reach as opposed to that of physical cable. If you can see the sky, you can be connected," explains Stephanopoli.
Stephanopoli cites the World Bank’s the Broadband for All Working Group’s report, which indicates that African countries will need to bring 1.1-billion more people online as the working-age population in Africa is expected to increase by 450-million people between by 2035.
"The technology is there to enable the efficient connectivity of the African continent with the rest of the world. The more stakeholders appreciate the potential that this technology holds the closer we will get to seeing roll-out becoming a reality," Stephanopoli says.
He adds that although the speeds the physical cable enables are highly attractive, the dispersal of connectivity gives satellite broadband technology an advantage over physical cable. He believes this enables wider availability of broadband connectivity.
"Our mission is to provide affordable stable satellite broadband to the Southern African market, and we know that by utilising satellite broadband technology, more South Africans can have easier access to the outside world, increasing their potential and thus growing the South African economy," he says.
Stephanopoli says the cost of broadband via satellite technology makes economic sense when considering remote and rural areas and its ability to give South Africans in these areas affordable connection with the rest of the world.
