Africa’s First Eutelsat OneWeb LEO Satellite Service implemented
Telecommunications company Q-KON has achieved a significant milestone by incorporating Eutelsat OneWeb's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity into their Twoobii Smart Satellite Services.The groundbreaking development marks the launch of the first branch from a prominent digital bank on the service, making it not only a first for the bank but also the inaugural operational LEO site in Africa.
Q-KON's Twoobii Smart Satellite Service addresses Africa's unique connectivity challenges with a bespoke approach, combining anytime, anywhere connectivity with necessary security protocols for real-time transmission of bank account and financial transaction data. The implementation has already demonstrated tangible benefits for both bank staff and customers, providing always-on connectivity even in the face of infrastructure-related challenges such as hardware failures or power outages.
The digital bank's flagship branch, equipped with the Eutelsat OneWeb/Twoobii installation, is not a proof-of-concept model but a fully operational site. It supports various processes, including intranet, software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs), branch online management, data backhauls, staff and customer Wi-Fi, and ATM services. The bank is reportedly pleased with the results and is actively exploring the possibility of extending the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO system to more branches.
The Twoobii LEO service offers low latency, 50Mbps connectivity, and serves as a seamless redundancy option for fibre circuits. Q-KON has obtained full ICASA licensing, ensuring regulatory compliance, and enabling customers to continue banking even during terrestrial hardware failures or power outages. This contributes to a more streamlined and uninterrupted banking experience by eliminating the main causes of infrastructure-related transaction failures or delays.
Dawie de Wet, Group CEO of Q-KON, expressed confidence in the utility of the Twoobii Eutelsat OneWeb solution in financial services contexts. He looks forward to expanding the roll-out of this LEO connectivity solution to more bank branches, aiming to benefit the customers of their leading digital banking client. The convergence of banking innovation and cutting-edge satellite connectivity has the potential to transform banking operations and enhance the service delivery experienced by bank customers.