Unlocking Reliable Connectivity in Southern Africa with Q-KON’s Advanced Solutions

For over 35 years, Q-KON has specialised in innovative solutions involving satellite, wireless, and unified communication technologies. Leveraging its strong system engineering, Q-KON provides comprehensive offerings that include turnkey projects, satellite network services, specialist product distribution, and business consultancy. In addition, Q-KON’s strategy targets the African markets, delivering services through satellite networks, wireless systems, and unified communication solutions. Using Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology to power advanced user terminals, Q-KON offers a critical alternative to traditional fibre networks, providing backup capabilities when needed.

Q-KON’s services primarily focus on the southern African region, covering countries such as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Space in Africa chatted with Q-KON CEO Dr Dawie de Wet to understand the company’s extensive service offerings for the African market and its plans for enhancing connectivity for business and corporate sectors in Africa.

What are some benefits, challenges, and impacts of Q-KON’s recent integration of Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite connectivity into the Twoobii Smart Satellite Services? Can you explain this to Q-KON’s customers and the communications sector?

Adding Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite connectivity to Q-KON’s Twoobii Smart Satellite Services significantly extends our service offerings and addressable market within the Southern African market.

In addition to the low-latency advantage, application advantages include:

1. Providing high-speed data circuits within a network with multiple Gbps capacity
2. Direct integration to the local terrestrial networks to provide a seamless extension of customer fibre networks for primary or redundancy services.
3. This is ideal for a powerful backup role as redundancy for fibre networks and
4. Improved service options for customers by combining primary fibre connections with OneWeb as a backup.

Impact of the integration on Q-KON’s customers and the communications sector

Now, we see the market shifting from a reserved, conservative stance to a more proactive and dynamic approach. Early adopters are already demonstrating the technology’s benefits in terms of cost and performance. Thus, this integration is expected to significantly alter the role of satellite technology in the communications landscape. While fibre will continue to dominate fixed connectivity and mobile networks will remain essential for mobility, satellite connectivity is poised to become a more prominent player in the industry.

This means Q-KON’s customers can access more robust and diverse connectivity options. The OneWeb integration creates new opportunities for applications that used to rely on 3G mobility connectivity, offering an alternative that bridges the gap between fibre and mobile networks. This development signals a shift in the broader communications sector’s perception of satellite technology. Instead of being viewed as a niche or phasing-out solution, satellite connectivity is now positioned to play a more integral role in the ecosystem. This is particularly significant in regions like Southern Africa, where diverse and reliable connectivity options are crucial.

While it’s too early to predict a complete transformation of the connectivity landscape, satellite technology is expected to gain a more substantial foothold. OneWeb, with its unique position in the market, is set to create an ‘in-between’ market, offering solutions that complement existing technologies and meet the evolving connectivity needs across various sectors.

Q-KON partnered with Avanti to deliver Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite connectivity to the Southern African market. How do you think this will play out in terms of service delivery?

This strategic partnership is significant for both organisations. Avanti has sought our assistance to find solutions in the African markets, particularly in the LEO sector. Avanti’s preference for collaborating with us stems from our focus on African-specific requirements. Rather than offering generic global connectivity, we adapt global solutions to create products tailored for Africa. We develop products and services specifically for the Southern African market, including on-the-ground delivery, support, turnkey services, and additional value-added services. This partnership expands our market reach and enhances our ability to provide customised solutions to our customers.

From our perspective, Avanti’s status as a global satellite operator provides us with an extensive market footprint and robust customer engagement potential. This partnership allows us to leverage Avanti’s global reach while applying our regional expertise.

Could you describe the potential impact of your partnership with Avanti?

I believe the market will widely accept Avanti as a global satellite operator, especially now that they have created this multi-orbit solution. This innovative approach combines Geostationary satellites with Low Earth Orbit satellites, offering customers an integrated connectivity solution. The market’s acceptance of multi-orbit solutions is expected to grow increasingly positive. We anticipate a shift from technology discussions to practical applications and solutions. Customers will begin exploring where and how to effectively utilise this dual satellite system. Avanti’s established market footprint and existing customer base will likely accelerate this transition, driving conversations beyond technical aspects to real-world implementation across various sectors. This evolution signifies a maturing satellite communications market, where the focus is moving from questioning the technology’s reliability to leveraging its potential for diverse customer needs.

What are some anticipated future trends in the satellite communication industry?

We anticipate significant market acceleration due to increased LEO satellite demand and increased capacity. Over South Africa alone, we have already seen launch programmes that will provide space segment services that can support a ZAR 1 billion satellite services industry. We need to utilise this capacity effectively. Unlike the visible development of fibre cable infrastructure, satellite constellation deployment occurs primarily out of public view. Companies like Starlink and OneWeb have already constructed global networks with hundreds of satellites, similar to mobile network base stations, and expansion continues. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is following suit. These initiatives are akin to having ‘towers in the sky,’ which will drive downstream demand and industry development.

In addition, we foresee the emergence of a specialised satellite industry, similar to the evolution of the mobile network industry, though on a different scale. Historically, the mobile network industry was pioneered by new, specialised companies rather than established fixed-line carriers. Similarly, we anticipate new LEO operators becoming dominant satellite network providers in Africa, filling the gap between fixed fibre and mobile operators.

What are some of the exciting future projects Q-KON is working on?

We recently secured a project with the Namibian government to develop their spaceport. Although not a traditional spaceport, this project will be a crucial hub for satellite communication networks, providing ground infrastructure and advanced services to global satellite operators. The spaceport will offer ground gateway terminal hosting for LEO constellations and facilitate downloading critical data and images from orbiting satellites, enhancing earth observation capabilities and scientific research. Additionally, the spaceport will play a vital role in the African network of TT&C (Tracking, Telemetry, and Control) stations, which monitor and control satellites orbiting over the continent.

This project is a significant milestone for us and demonstrates our growing influence in the industry. We anticipate increased demand for independent ground station facilities to support new services. After conducting research, we selected Namibia and reached out to the government. We are excited to announce that we have secured this collaboration and will soon start the project. Currently, we are clarifying regulatory requirements and have secured funding. We are engaging with Namibia’s regulator and discussing the final regulatory details. We expect to complete these discussions and other contracting this year, and we plan to start development in Q1 2025. This project is just one of the many exciting developments we have in the pipeline, and we look forward to sharing more about our future projects.

Do you have any potential customers for the spaceports?

Yes, we are actively engaging with them. Fortunately, we have established relationships with many potential customers in this sector. We are in discussions with Telesat, OneWeb, and several other key players in the satellite industry. These companies recognise the strategic importance of having robust infrastructure in southern Africa to support their operations.

The spaceport will provide essential ground gateway terminal hosting and other advanced services critical for successfully deploying and operating their LEO satellite constellations. Moreover, the spaceport’s role in the TT&C stations will be indispensable for monitoring and controlling satellites over the continent. This positions Namibia as a critical partner for these companies as they expand their presence in the region. We are confident that the state-of-the-art facilities and strategic location will make the spaceport an attractive option for these leading satellite operators. We commit to meeting their specific needs and requirements.