Konnect has offered to join the fight of several African governments to combat Covid-19 by providing access to care for a large number of people.

Konnect is a subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications, with a fleet of 39 satellites serving broadcasters, video service providers, telecom operators, Internet Service Providers and government agencies operating across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Eutelsat (www.Eutelsat.com) is one of the foremost operators in the commercial satellite business. Eutelsat satellites are used for video broadcasting, satellite newsgathering, broadband services, data connectivity, connecting aeroplanes and ships, enabling mission-critical government, NGO communications needs, and more.

Konnect aims at providing the entire African continent with very high-speed Internet, and more particularly in this context of the current health crisis. Konnect has proposed to offer broadband internet connection to isolation centres in Sokoto, a north-western state in Nigeria, to aid the fight against Covid-19.

Sokoto State Government Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname said: “Konnect has shown great concern towards the good people of Sokoto state by providing internet connectivity to three Covid-19 Isolation centres in the state. This gesture will go a long way in facilitating the management of Covid-19 patients in the state.”

Each isolation centre will benefit from free broadband connectivity, which will enable the real-time connection of centres, leading to effective coordination of medical services and improved care, thanks to telemedicine.

This deployment is made possible through the partnership with Coollink, a foremost Internet Service Provider(ISP) in Nigeria.

While making a remark on the agreement, Jean-Claude Tshipama, the CEO of Konnect Africa, said: “This operation demonstrates our ability to meet as quickly as possible the connectivity needs of institutional and commercial structures, even in complex times like these. We want Sokoto State to benefit from our expertise and the quality of our broadband services by providing FREE connectivity to all isolation centres.”

Shahin Nouri, the CEO of Coollink also noted that “Helping the Sokoto State Government to provide free satellite internet services to isolation centres is very important to us. It shows our engagement to deliver high-speed Internet anywhere in Nigeria and to help communities in crisis. Eutelsat Konnect has been a very important partner for us, and with such initiatives, is showing its commitment to the Nigerian market.”

However, Konnect has been operating in Nigeria since 2017, with the purpose of providing broadband connectivity to all sections of the population, particularly to those located in rural areas, while partnering with Coollink.

Konnect offers an affordable and flexible solution, available everywhere. Konnect will see its in-orbit resources increase tenfold with the entry into service of the EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite in the coming months. With a total capacity of 75 Gbps, EUTELSAT KONNECT will be able to provide very high-speed Internet of up to 100 Mbps, guaranteeing full coverage of Nigeria and 40 other African countries.