Has Africa Been Weaned off

Satellite yet?

By: Tom Makau

tmakau@callkeynetworks.com
 Introduction
• Africa has had heavy reliance on Satellite
communications for both data and voice
backhaul and last mile access and for DTH
video broadcast
• Other than the SAT-3 cable which served mostly
South Africa and some few West African
countries, The rest of Africa was pretty much
reliant on Satellite backhaul for International
access
 Introduction
• However, since 2009, additional
Submarine fiber-optic cables have landed
in Africa leading to diminished dependence
on Satellite for International backhaul and
enterprise networks
• Satellite service however continues to play
a critical role in African telecommunication
scene.
Copper Submarine Cables circa 1890....
Why Did Submarine Fiber-Optic
Edge Out Satellite?

• Bit-for-bit, Satellite bandwidth was very expensive

compared to that from Submarine cables

• Satellite CPE was expensive

• Fiber optic throughput was better than Satellite

• Market hype? Especially on its expected reliability

What Positive Changes have Submarine
Cables Brought to Africa?

• Just over 40% of the population now lives at least 50

Kms from a fiber node that is connected to the
Submarine cables.
• Total used broadband capacity has increased from
0.1Tbps in 2008 to 1Tbps in 2012. The total designed
capacity of all the cables by 2014 will be 25.79Tbps*
• Lower pricing has led to a higher penetration of
broadband
*Source: www.africabandwidthmaps.com
 Is This It For Satellites?

With the availability of cheap bandwidth via fiber

optic cables, many an analyst prepared eloquent
eulogies in anticipation of the demise of Satellite.
• Did the death happen?
• Do we foresee a life without satellites in
Africa?
• What are some of the key developments that
will cause a Satellite rebound?
Challenges On The Fiber Roll-Out Path
• Africa’s land mass size and low population density makes
it difficult for operators to profitably roll out terrestrial
network

• Lack of reliable electric power supply has impeded the

growth of active networks

• Virtually no existent last mile networks to deliver the

benefits of the expanding fiber backhaul into African
hinterland

• ….. There is however a lot of progress in laying cable

with about 138 route Kms of cable being laid every day.
The ‘Dark’ Continent
 Advances Made In The Last 10 Years

• Penetration has increased from less than 2% to the current

15.6% in this period across the continent

• Average price of International backhaul is now about

$280, down from a high of $12,500 per Mbps

• About 19Tbps of submarine capacity now available on

the African coast

• Over 732,000 route Kilometres of terrestrial fiber laid as

of July 2012
Fiber Optic Reach Statistics
With a Population of 1 Billion people in Africa:
• 40.1 M people within 25km reach of submarine cable landing
point.

• 173.9 M people within 10Km reach of terrestrial fibre node.

• 345.1 M people within 25Km reach of terrestrial fibre node.

• 522.3 M people within 50Km reach of terrestrial fibre node.

• 341.0 M people beyond the reach of terrestrial fibre node.

Source: www.africabandwidthmaps.com
Satellite at inflection point…

• What are some key developments in the Satellite

world that have taken place in the last four years of
fiber optic cable growth in the African continent?
 Some Key Developments In
Satellite…
• High capacity Ka-band spot beam service launch in Africa
• MEO satellite launches by O3B will offer lower latency (>200ms) comparable to
existing African Submarine cables
• Replacement of Hydrazine fueled thrusters with ion based thrusters. This will:
• Greatly elongate satellite life to > 15 years.
• Leave space for more transponders and power supply systems
• Global coverage e.g. Intelsat’s EPIC project
NG

• Cheaper, powerful and integrated CPEs

• More friendlier satellite operator contracts. Transponder capacity pricing has
drastically reduced from highs of $4500 per MHz to sub $1500 per MHz for new
contracts.
• Standardization of IPoS giving better IP throughput
Effect Of These Developments on
the African Market
• Lower cost /MHz satellite capacity. Some operators now
offer less than $500/Mbps
• Barriers to entry removed due to lower equipment
pricing
• Higher throughput offering a wide range of services
• Hotter beams ensure higher uptime even during adverse
weather
• Low latency services from O3B will offer ‘fiber in the
sky’ service to any location on the continent
 What Does All This Mean?
• With slightly over 522 Million people with poor or
no access to terrestrial nodes in Africa, satellite
offers them a chance.
• The low population density and lack of power
makes deployment of terrestrial networks
unattractive to investors beyond major towns
• Lowered broadband over satellite pricing makes it
attractive even in wired-up town where reliability
is an issue
Is Satellite making a come back?
• With over half of the Africa population beyond the reach of
terrestrial networks and the demand for broadband and mobile
connectivity on the rise, Satellite will play a critical role in bridging
the gap.
• Cheaper satellite capacity and equipment. Barriers to entry removed.
• Measured reliability on Satellite networks is much higher than most
terrestrial networks. (There is a cable that has 76.4% annual uptime
as of today).
• Terrestrial networks have many points of failure compared to
satellite.
• Quick deployment: 3 hours vs 7-21 days for FFTx.
 Is Africa Weaned Off Satellite?
• Recent entry into the African market of new players such as
Avanti, Yahsat and O3B with innovative products shows that
there is potential to grow satellite services.
• With rapid growth of mobile networks, mobile backhaul via
MEO satellite to remote locations has great potential to
transform the market
• VSAT broadband services on Ka-band and cheaper CPEs
• Cautious optimism on the terrestrial network roll-out success
stories, many investors reporting massive losses and operational
challenges. Dotcom bubble-like symptoms showing in the
market
What Is The Future of Satellite in
Africa?
• Ka-band offers a paradigm shift on satellite pricing. Shift to this
band is inevitable. High satellite bandwidth prices are a thing of
the past.

• Increased use of MEO and LEO satellites will improve

performance to that comparable to fiber optic.

• The extremely low pricing for terrestrial fiber optic bandwidth are
not sustainable, there is simply no critical mass to sustain those
prices. Operators have to bite the bullet and increase their price
offering to the market

• Entry of more operators to meet demand for capacity

 Operators Warming Up…
• Eutelsat 3D satellite launch last week to offer services
over Africa

• O3B launch in 2013 to offer low latency Satellite services

• Inmarsat Global Xpress coming in 2014 to offer global

coverage

• Avanti plans to launch Hylas-3 in 2015 to offer steerable

beams over Africa

• Intelsat’s EPICNG project in 2015 and its recent

reinforcement of satellites over Africa
Thank You.
Q &A