Vodacom plans to use Project Kuiper’s high-bandwidth, low-latency satellite network to bring the benefits of 4G and 5G connectivity to under-serviced areas.
This is thanks to a strategic collaboration between parent company Vodafone and Project Kuiper, announced on Tuesday.
Vodafone and Vodacom said they plan to use Project Kuiper’s network to extend 4G and 5G services to more of their customers in Europe and Africa.
Vodacom said it would specifically target areas where it may otherwise be challenging and prohibitively expensive to serve with traditional fibre or microwave backhaul connections.
The companies said Project Kuiper would connect geographically dispersed cellular antennas back to the companies’ core telecom networks.
“This means Vodafone and Vodacom will be able offer 4G/5G services in more locations without the time and expense of building out fibre-based or fixed wireless links back to the core networks,” the companies stated.
Amazon plans to partner with Vodafone to roll out Project Kuiper’s services to unserved and underserved communities around the world.
The companies are also exploring additional enterprise-specific products, such as backup services for unexpected events, and extending connectivity to remote infrastructure.
“Collaborating with Project Kuiper gives us an exciting new path to scale our efforts, using Amazon’s satellite constellation to quickly reach more customers across the African continent,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.
Vodafone Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle (pictured, left) said their partnership would support remote communities previously without Internet access, their schools and businesses, emergency services, and disaster relief.
“These connections will be complemented further through our own work on direct-to-smartphone satellite services,” Della Valle said.
“Amazon is building Project Kuiper to provide fast, affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in unserved and underserved communities,” said Amazon senior vice president for devices and services Dave Limp (pictured, right).
“Teaming with a leading international service provider like Vodafone allows us to make a bigger impact faster in closing the digital divide in Europe and Africa.”
Vodafone, Vodacom, and Project Kuiper will begin deploying services in Africa and Europe as Amazon’s production satellites come online.
Amazon is preparing to test two prototype satellites in the coming months before starting to deploy production satellites in 2024.
Amazon expects to begin beta testing Project Kuiper services with select customers by the end of 2024, and Vodafone and Vodacom plan to participate in that testing through this collaboration.
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