Global VSAT Forum, the association of the global satellite industry, said it will be doubling the number of satellites serving the continent.
Global Mobile Association, the industry body of GSM service providers, promised to spend $50 billion to connect the remote areas of the continent over the next five years.
The global satellite industry came under criticism at the International Telecommunications Union - Africa summit in Egypt over its expensive equipment, but it promised to work with governments to help bring the costs down.
VSAT Forum said the aim was to link the rural parts of Africa where the fibre optic cable will not reach. The undersea cable is first being deployed in countries with a coastline before extending to the interior.
There are concerns that some areas may be too remote to make the fibre optic roll out viable. Such areas will be served by satellite.
ICT compliant
The commitments by the two groups are part of the initiative known as Connect Africa, which was started by the International Communications Union last year.
The aim is to have the continent fully ICT compliant by 2015 through profitable business, not charity or aid.
The VSAT Forum announced that to facilitate the new commitment, it will assist governments in Africa to provide regulators and ministry stakeholders with access to an online interactive course entitled 'A Government Guide to Satellite Communications.'
GVF said that during the past five years, Africa's satellite market has been the fastest-growing region with a rate of increase that has been twice as fast as the global average. Satellite television and radio services now reach millions of Africans.
Mobile coverage
"Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) are now deployed in every African nation, where they not only support vital enterprises but also support national or regional distance learning, and a host of e-government applications," said David Hartshorn VSAT Forum.
Satellite operators who plan to bring new capacity into service for Africa over the next five years are ABS, Arabsat, Eutelsat and Orascom among others.
GSMA said its commitment is based on the reality that over 300 million rural Africans do not yet have mobile coverage. The association said serving these communities would be a great challenge.
"To realise the full benefits of this investment, African governments need to ensure that sufficient spectrum is available, particularly for mobile broadband services. Governments also need to tackle mobile-specific taxes, high licence fees...," said GSMA in a statement.
Mr Naguib Sawiris, chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom, said the company has created a new subsidiary known as "Telecel Globe," which will reinvest in Africa's smaller countries.
"We call on African governments to reduce the taxation and regulatory burden on mobile users so we can maximise the positive impact of this investment," he said.
Dr. Saad Al Barrak of Zain Group said his company will build its own fibre optic backbones to speed up delivery and increase affordability.
GSMA represents more than 750 GSM mobile phone operators in 218 countries.
The association's members represent over 86 per cent of the world's mobile phone connections.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Steve Mbogo
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 19.05.2008
