00:05Low earth orbit satellite broadband is poised to transform connectivity in some of South Africa's
00:11hardest to reach communities. While cities are well served by mobile and fiber networks,
00:17gaps still exist in many rural towns. It's not economical to reach all the all the areas,
00:24all the villages in the country profitably for large telecommunications companies.
00:29What that results in is lack of proper broadband connectivity, particularly for government
00:35institutions such as health clinics, schools, police stations. Amazon has leapfrogged Starlink
00:42by partnering with local service provider Herotel, while Starlink has challenged South
00:47Africa's ownership laws. Amazon has played by the rules. Amazon obviously followed what we have
00:53been saying publicly. They've identified a licensee which I can confirm they're in good standing.
00:59We do have our own rules in the country where there will be a requirement in your structure
01:05to have a 30 percent ownership of historically disadvantaged individuals or groups.
01:10The Gilberts Valley combined school in Betal, resources are limited. Broken windows,
01:16aging desks and unreliable internet access continue to hamper learning. Sometimes when they have
01:22projects they do use it, but not most of the time because we don't have a good internet. It does
01:30disadvantage them because now if maybe we've prepared a lesson for them, now we can't do it because there's
01:37no internet. Here away from the city lights and dense urban mobile networks, low earth orbit
01:44satellites are set to make the biggest difference, transforming communications in some of South Africa's
01:49most remote communities long left on the sidelines of the digital revolution. We've seen even from the
01:57studies and talking to those that are already providing services that rural communities are bound to
02:03actually get more services. Rapid deployment as well in terms of disasters, early warning. This is what
02:11satellites can actually achieve in many of the rural areas of our country. China Satellite Network Group is
02:18also exploring satellite broadband for schools, businesses and remote communities. When one looks at
02:25the fact that many of the mobile operators in fact rely on Huawei equipment, for example, and you have
02:32other players that also compete in this space and provide infrastructure and connectivity expertise,
02:41you can see that that can be extended quite quickly to satellite broadband. South African regulators are
02:48finalizing the rules for low earth orbit satellite operators as the country seeks to unlock investment,
02:54expand, expand competition and bridge the digital divide through universal connectivity.
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