(Ecofin Agency) - The infrastructure is in line with OneWeb’s ambition to provide broadband internet connection everywhere.  

Satellite operator OneWeb announced the successful installation of 15 OneWeb antennas and related equipment at a satellite network portal (SNP) in Accra, Ghana. The new infrastructure is OneWeb’s first SNP in West Africa. It is built and installed in collaboration with communications solution provider TinSky Connect,t will be operational by the end of this year.  

“The site is now commissioning and will be ready for service later in 2022. Tinsky understood the complexity of the multiple satellite ‘hand offs’ each gateway has to achieve per second and deployed a highly experienced team of field engineers that provided advanced system engineering and technical services addressing OneWeb’s mission-critical SNP gateway needs, at low risk and within budget,” said  Alan Geldenhuys, Executive Director of TinSky Connect Group. 

The partnership comes in a context marked by strong competition in the satellite telecommunication segment in Africa where demand is high, in rural areas notably.  OneWeb wants to deploy a mega-constellation of at least 650 mini-satellites in low earth orbit to meet the growing demand for internet connection and outrun the competition. However, its initial plan was slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which thwarted a number of funding promises. Rescued from bankruptcy by Bharti Airtel and the UK government in July 2020, the company has been ramping up investments as part of its goal. By May 2021, it crossed the 200-satellite mark in space. 

This new infrastructure is OneWeb's second SNP gateway in Africa. The first one is located in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa. Other SNPs are being set up in Senegal and Mauritius. Once completed, they will enable the satellite operator to extend its African coverage with high-speed Internet and support the digital transformation that is accelerating on the continent. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi