{"id":95966,"date":"2026-07-15T12:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/amazon-plans-satellite-internet-launch-in-south-africa-edging-out-musks-starlink\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:32:32","slug":"amazon-plans-satellite-internet-launch-in-south-africa-edging-out-musks-starlink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/amazon-plans-satellite-internet-launch-in-south-africa-edging-out-musks-starlink\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Plans Satellite Internet Launch in South Africa, Edging Out Musk’s Starlink"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

CAPE TOWN, South Africa \u2014 Amazon announced Wednesday that it plans to bring its satellite internet service, called Amazon Leo, to South Africa in 2027 \u2014 apparently getting ahead of Elon Musk’s competing Starlink service in the country where Musk was born.<\/p>

The company, founded by Jeff Bezos, said it will team up with South African internet provider Herotel to offer the service to the nation’s 62 million residents. Amazon described it as the company’s first satellite internet partnership on the African continent. No details about the financial terms of the deal were released at the time of the announcement.<\/p>

The news comes after Musk, widely recognized as the world’s wealthiest person, publicly blasted the South African government over its regulations. Musk has claimed that rules requiring foreign communications companies to give a minority ownership stake in their local operations to Black or other non-white investors have blocked Starlink from entering the market \u2014 and he has accused the government of racial discrimination against him because he is white.<\/p>

Those affirmative action policies were designed to create economic opportunities for people who were shut out under South Africa’s former apartheid system, which enforced white minority rule.<\/p>

South Africa’s government has expressed support for the Amazon agreement. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi appeared alongside Amazon and Herotel representatives to formally announce the deal.<\/p>

Amazon first launched its low-orbit internet satellites last year and currently has more than 390 of them in operation. By comparison, Starlink \u2014 which launched its first operational satellites back in 2019 \u2014 now has more than 10,000 satellites circling the globe. While Starlink has expanded into roughly two dozen African nations, Musk has declined to comply with South Africa’s ownership requirements, keeping the service out of that country.<\/p>

Amazon also said Wednesday that the South Africa deal marks the beginning of a broader push across the African continent. As part of that effort, the company plans to work with Vanu Inc., a Lexington, Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in providing mobile internet access in developing nations.<\/p>

Africa represents a significant potential market for satellite internet services. The continent is home to more than 1.5 billion people, many of whom live in rural or remote areas where traditional fixed internet connections are not available.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazon announced Wednesday it will bring its satellite internet service, Amazon Leo, to South Africa by 2027 \u2014 apparently getting the jump on Elon Musk’s competing Starlink service. The tech giant, founded by Jeff Bezos, will team up with South African internet provider Herotel in what Amazon calls its first satellite internet deal on the African continent. The move comes amid Musk’s public criticism of South Africa’s affirmative action regulations, which he has blamed for blocking Starlink’s entry into the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":95965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[832],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/news-1784133152535.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-oXQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67188,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/elon-musks-starlink-receives-license-to-begin-operations-in-uganda\/","url_meta":{"origin":95966,"position":0},"title":"Elon Musk’s Starlink Receives License to Begin Operations in Uganda","author":"Admin","date":"May 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Uganda's president announced his country has approved a license for Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink to begin providing service. The move could bring competition to Uganda's internet market, where customers have complained about high costs and poor reliability.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778862161141.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778862161141.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778862161141.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778862161141.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778862161141.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":86963,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/starlink-offers-free-internet-to-venezuela-after-earthquakes-strike\/","url_meta":{"origin":95966,"position":1},"title":"Starlink Offers Free Internet to Venezuela After Earthquakes Strike","author":"Admin","date":"June 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, announced it will offer one month of free service to its customers in Venezuela following two earthquakes that struck the South American country. The company also said it is working to quickly get Starlink terminals deployed to restore internet access\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World News"","block_context":{"text":"World News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/world-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782429399703.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41705,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/russia-launches-16-satellites-to-challenge-spacexs-starlink-network\/","url_meta":{"origin":95966,"position":2},"title":"Russia Launches 16 Satellites to Challenge SpaceX’s Starlink Network","author":"Admin","date":"March 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Moscow announced Tuesday it successfully deployed 16 low-Earth orbit satellites as part of its effort to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink internet service. 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