In this episode of ITWeb TV, news editor Admire Moyo speaks to Q-KON group CEO, Dr Dawie de Wet about the state of satellite broadband internet connectivity in SA and the company’s plans, as Starlink’s SA launch remains in limbo. He also touches on the impact of space debris as a result of LEO satellites among other issues. #Satellite #Connectivity #Broadband #QKON #Starlink #LEOsatellite
While Elon Musk’s Starlink remains caught in regulatory quagmire with South African authorities, local company Q-KON is preparing to bring consumer satellite connectivity to the country.
Dr Dawie de Wet, group CEO of Q-KON, told ITWeb TV that the Centurion-based satellite engineering firm, which operates the Twoobii broadband service, is leveraging Eutelsat OneWeb’s satellite infrastructure to expand high-speed connectivity across Sub-Saharan Africa.
By integrating OneWeb into its Twoobii smart satellite services platform, Q-KON can reach underserved and remote areas.
Asked whether Q-KON plans to beat Starlink to the South African consumer market, De Wet said “yes.”
“We are working on those options. We feel we want to be more constructive. The Starlink business model is quite attractive for consumers but other than that it’s quite disruptive. It’s disruptive for the government; it’s disruptive for the financial institutions; and it’s also addressed to just a specific (upper income) market,” said De Wet.
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“Right now to have a Starlink terminal, you must have a credit card. You must be able to receive a package. So for a specific segment of the consumer market, it’s a perfect option, but that’s not the full consumer market in South Africa.
“What if you don’t have a credit card? What if you cannot receive a courier parcel and install it at the house? What about if you want to install a terminal in a location, maybe at a shop or vendor and want to serve the community through WiFi? How do we take care of that market?” he asked.
De Wet said that model isn’t currently supported within the Starlink environment, and Q-KON is exploring ways to leverage satellite technology in a more inclusive structure – one that serves both premium and lower-end segments effectively.
Dawie de Wet, Q-KON group CEO. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo)
He added, however, that should Starlink obtain a licence, “it will definitely disrupt, they love to disrupt, they designed the technology that enables them to disrupt.”
He emphasised that Starlink and other low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations remain small players in the telecoms industry, currently estimated at just 2-5% of the market.
“So can a 5% player coming into the telecom industry really disrupt the market? Maybe not,” De Wet said.
He noted that LEO technology is unlikely to affect fibre networks or mobile operators directly, instead impacting peripheral applications – “the edges where LTE is really used but not really meant to.”
Overall, he said, the technology should be seen as complementary rather than disruptive, limited by spectrum, capacity, and cell size.
Despite the challenges, De Wet said South Africa still needs Starlink to address specific markets and expand the industry.
“I think by next year around this time, there will be more players in the market so the South African market is going to get the benefits of low Earth orbit consumer products. It might be Starlink or other players coming in, but our view is the market will see the benefits.
“For us, this is an interesting time with this wave coming into the market, so we are hard at work to bring the next solutions to the market to supplement OneWeb.”
De Wet explained that Eutelsat’s OneWeb is primarily enterprise-focused, but Q-KON is developing a consumer offering to sell directly and through partnerships.
He added that in the next one to two years it will focus on expanding this technology. “Right now the general industry is not really paying attention but satellite can be like a billion-rand industry.”
However, he noted that if the sector grows to a billion- or even hundred-billion-rand scale, South Africa currently lacks the organisational structures to manage it effectively.
“I always say satellite is too small for the big ones and too big for the small ones. What I mean by that is the technology is highly specialised and focused. The primary telcos don’t really have an interest to drive it as a proactive product to the market.
“They will use the technology but they’re not really going to adopt a strategy that maybe adds like 2% to their revenue. It’s not of interest to them. So, right now there’s a gap for a first-year leading satellite network operator,” De Wet said.
He also highlighted concerns about the growth of LEO constellations and space debris. Thousands of new satellites launched by companies like SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb are crowding low Earth orbit, increasing collision risks and creating fragments that can remain in space for decades.
“Even tiny pieces of debris can travel at speeds exceeding 25,000 km/h, posing a serious threat to active satellites, spacecraft, and astronauts. It’s a real topic, and there are some scenarios being planned, which is a little bit scary, especially if you keep in mind that there’s maybe a collision, and then they scatter, and all the pieces create more and more collisions.”
