"The Paratus Group announces a multi-year agreement with the global telecommunications provider, OneWeb, to build a 'gateway' in Luanda, Angola, which will be operational in the second half of 2023", reads a statement from OneWeb, to which the VerAngola had access.
This teleport, according to the note, will provide Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services to Angola and neighboring countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as facilitate "the provision of high speed and low latency for businesses, government, schools, clinics and hospitals in underserved areas".
"With this agreement, we are taking another giant step towards realizing our plan to use Angola as a communications hub for the region. Being selected as the preferred partner to install the 'gateway' in Angola for OneWeb reaffirms our superior capacity in the development of world-class telecommunications infrastructure in Africa", said Rolf Mendelsohn, technical director of Grupo Paratus, quoted in the note.
For his part, Michele Franci, head of delivery and operations at One Web, said that "considering the size and persistence of the digital divide and connectivity barriers for companies operating in rural or remote areas, the need for satellite options LEO is obvious".
"On a global scale, mobile internet uptake is still only 50 percent and many of those who remain offline reside in Africa. By installing OneWeb teleports linked to hundreds of LEO satellites, we can bridge this divide effectively and affordably," he said, adding that they chose "to partner with Paratus Angola because the group is rooted in Africa, fully understands and invests in meeting market demands and because Paratus is committed to transforming African connectivity through an exceptional digital infrastructure" .
According to the statement, the teleport will comprise 16 antennas and "a network hosting facility", linked to OneWeb's low earth orbit satellite infrastructure, "connecting Africa to the world and the world to Africa".
