Amazon Leo Gets the Contract to Provide Satellite Internet in South Africa

In July 2026, Herotel, a prominent internet provider in South Africa, gave the contract of satellite internet to Amazon. Herotel has decided to use Amazon’s satellite infrastructure to improve the accessibility of the internet in South Africa. The company has launched a new service called Evry, which uses Amazon Leo’s satellite technology to improve connectivity in homes and small enterprises.

Evry is expected to be officially launched in the market in 2027, as announced by the company. This is the first of its kind agreement on the continent of Africa. South Africa has many remote and sparse settlements in farms, towns, and villages where conventional internet connectivity infrastructure is not feasible due to the costs involved. This contract will focus on this particular issue to ensure robust connectivity to all the citizens of the country.

Amazon Leo’s satellites revolve around the earth at an altitude of around 580 kilometers, which is much lower than the altitude of conventional geostationary satellites, which is around 35,000 kilometers. The vicinity of Leo’s satellites helps to achieve low latency on the internet connection for various routine purposes such as video calling, broadcasting, remote work, and online education.

As of now, Herotel caters to more than 350,000 customers in more than 550 towns in South Africa, providing wired as well as wireless connectivity to the citizens. The company has 120 local offices in the entire nation, which will aid Evry to deploy its satellite-based internet solutions. This agreement builds on Amazon's commitment to the development of South Africa for 20 years. Amazon is also working with Vanu Inc., a mobile network equipment provider, to extend cellular accessibility to the remote regions of Africa, and they will commence their work from South Africa.

Impact on the Information and Communication Technology Industry

According to Precedence Research, this agreement is expected to significantly boost the information and communication industry in Africa, which has a huge underserved population, as a significant chunk of the population does not have cellular connectivity. The geography of the continent is partly responsible, as there are many remote, rugged, and hilly regions where small tribes live.

The continent has a large number of sparsely populated patches where building conventional connectivity infrastructure is not sustainable for internet providers. With the advent of satellite internet technology, connecting such remote tribes is now possible, as it does not require huge capital investments in infrastructure to set up a connectivity network in the region.

Impact on the Satellite Internet Market

The global satellite internet market size is calculated at USD 11.93 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 13.55 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 42.15 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 13.45% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, the agreements between global corporations and governments to develop the national internet infrastructure are expected to significantly increase the pace of growth of the satellite internet market. Africa has a large underserved population in terms of internet connectivity, and hence Amazon Leo’s satellite connectivity is expected to be widely adopted by remote towns, hilly tribes, and rural farmers who live in region which are not connected by conventional infrastructure. This would set an example of the benefits of satellite internet and would further propel its adoption in other countries with similar geographical issues.

Impact on the Satellite Market

The global satellite market size was estimated at USD 362.28 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 391.99 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 780.24 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 7.97% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, the satellite market is predicted to benefit from the national agreement between the government of South Africa and Amazon Leo. Such agreements involve significant investment from the government into the production of satellite equipment, on-ground receiver infrastructure, and software development, which increases the economic activity in the market. The successful adoption of such infrastructure further boosts the adoption of satellite internet in various countries which further boosts the market growth.

About Amazon Leo

Amazon Leo is a satellite internet provider that is dedicated to providing high-quality internet that is sufficient for families who live in weak connectivity areas. Such a facility holds immense value as it helps the communities contact cities in case of any medical and climate emergencies, who can then provide help to the distressed communities. It also helps boost the national economy by providing education and employment to the remote populations who do not have access to connectivity and resources to learn the technical skills necessary for jobs. Satellite internet is also being thought of as a backup to conventional internet infrastructure to be used in case of failure, which could be caused by a number of reasons, such as commercial electricity supply fault, equipment maintenance downtime, and weather emergencies, which cause machinery damage.