Eutelsat Group and YahClick, the data solutions arm of UAE-based Yahsat, have signed a multi-year, multi-Gbps contract under which Yahsat will lease capacity from the Eutelsat Konnect satellite to extend YahClick’s service coverage, particularly to Ethiopia.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) revealed on Wednesday, Yahsat will leverage capacity on Eutelsat Konnect to offer satellite broadband services across "multiple African and Middle East markets".
As part of the deal, the contract gives Yahsat exclusive rights to Konnect capacity over Ethiopia, which Yahsat says is one of Africa’s fastest-growing markets.
Yahsat chief commercial officer Sulaiman Al Ali said the deal is in line with Yahsat’s efforts to elevate its offerings and drive growth across its satellite broadband footprint in Africa and expand into new markets in Africa and elsewhere.
“This partnership shall enable us to further enhance our portfolio and drive growth of our ‘YahClick’ broadband services to consumer and enterprise markets,” he said in a joint statement.
Eutelsat Konnect has been in service since November 2020, sporting 75 Gbps of capacity across a network of 65 spotbeams. Originally covering Europe and Africa, the satellite’s entire capacity is being progressively transferred to provide dedicated African coverage, said Ghassan Murat, Eutelsat’s RVP of AMEA.
“Yahsat’s strong presence in Africa and the Middle East through the successful deployment of its YahClick satellite broadband service – together with the uptake we are seeing as we progressively transfer Eutelsat Konnect capacity to Africa – highlight the buoyant demand for robust broadband services in the market, and the pertinence of satellite in connecting users, even in the most remote locations,” he said.
