Eutelsat Pledges to Connect an Additional 2 Million People in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030
Eutelsat has announced a new commitment to extend broadband satellite connectivity to an additional 2 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, building on a track record of digital inclusion initiatives that stretches back over a decade on the continent.
The pledge was made at the ITU Global Symposium for Regulators 2026 (GSR-26), held in Ankara, Turkey, from 12 to 15 May 2026, under the International Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, the same framework under which Eutelsat made, and surpassed, its first connectivity pledge.
A Target Reached Early, and Raised
Eutelsat’s renewed commitment follows the successful delivery of its original Partner2Connect pledge, which it submitted in June 2022: to connect 1 million underserved people in Sub-Saharan Africa to reliable satellite internet by 2027. The company reached that milestone two years ahead of schedule, with more than 1.3 million users connected as of 30 June 2025.
That first target was delivered primarily through Eutelsat’s KONNECT Wi-Fi hotspot service, powered by the EUTELSAT KONNECT high-throughput satellite, a new-generation platform positioned at 7° East that provides broadband speeds from 5 Mbps to 100 Mbps to rural areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. The service has connected individuals, schools, businesses, and healthcare centres across Sub-Saharan Africa, where fixed and mobile infrastructure remains limited or absent.
The next phase, running through to 2030, will draw on both Eutelsat’s GEO satellite fleet and its OneWeb LEO constellation, whose capabilities were combined following the merger of Eutelsat and OneWeb in 2023, making Eutelsat the first fully integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator.
The Latest in a Long Series of African Commitments
The GSR-26 pledge is the latest chapter in Eutelsat’s engagement across the African continent, which has taken shape through a series of partnerships and agreements over recent years:
Beyond Connectivity: Broadcast and Free-to-Air Access
Eutelsat’s African engagement extends beyond internet access. As of 30 June 2025, the group was broadcasting more than 6,400 television channels across its satellites, including more than 2,300 free-to-air channels, close to 40% of all channels it carries, accessible without subscription to an audience of over one billion viewers, primarily in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Signed to the UN Global Compact Since 2019
Digital inclusion is a defined pillar of Eutelsat’s corporate social responsibility strategy and is framed by the company within the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Eutelsat has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact since 2019.
The company’s stated aim is to ensure that satellite connectivity enables access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity in the communities it serves, particularly in areas where terrestrial infrastructure is unlikely to reach in the near term.