Viasat Accelerates African Expansion with Next-Generation Satellites and Strategic Partnerships
The company aims to provide high-speed, affordable satellite connectivity to underserved communities and emerging markets, supporting critical digital services such as telehealth, distance learning, precision agriculture, and business development.
Global communications company Viasat is ramping up its expansion across Africa, leveraging next-generation satellite technology and strategic partnerships to address the continent’s persistent digital divide. The company aims to provide high-speed, affordable satellite connectivity to underserved communities and emerging markets, supporting critical digital services such as telehealth, distance learning, precision agriculture, and business development.
Central to Viasat’s digital inclusion strategy is its partnership with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, which seeks to extend internet access to 5 million people across Africa by 2025. The program, highlighted at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum, is initially focusing on Angola, Egypt, and Senegal, with plans to expand to Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This initiative is expected to deliver immediate connectivity to enable essential online services in regions historically underserved by broadband infrastructure.
Viasat is also forging key regional partnerships to facilitate market entry and distribution. In West Africa, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Liquid Dataport, a unit of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, to commercialize satellite broadband services across the region. This collaboration aims to lower internet costs and improve data reliability. In North Africa, Viasat works with its ELEVATE partner, Rawafed Libya, providing satellite connectivity to businesses, government entities, and critical sectors such as oil and gas.
The company’s expansion relies on its next-generation satellite fleet, the ViaSat-3 constellation, with the second satellite, VS-3 F2, set to cover the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). This satellite is expected to more than double Viasat’s existing bandwidth capacity, enabling enhanced services for in-flight connectivity (IFC) across key African air routes and improving maritime connectivity along African coasts.
Through these initiatives, Viasat aims to strengthen digital inclusion, expand commercial connectivity solutions, and support the growth of Africa’s digital economy, positioning itself as a critical player in the continent’s ongoing technological transformation.
