Avanti Communications and Clear Blue Technologies have partnered to deploy rural connectivity across sub-Saharan Africa.

Avanti, with rural network coverage solutions supporting second-generation, third-generation, fourth-generation and WiFi connectivity across Africa, will provide critical, high-throughput Ka-band satellite connectivity and very small aperture terminal, or VSAT, equipment.

Clear Blue will deploy its smart off-grid solar-powered solutions with remote management and control.

Avanti and Clear Blue have already successfully provided these connectivity solutions in significant deployments across Africa’s largest economies.

This will also enable mobile network operators and telco tower companies to deliver rural network coverage across sub-Saharan Africa.

The partnership will ultimately result in the deployment of rural network coverage for up to 400-million currently unconnected citizens over the next three to five years, accelerating the rural roll-out of low-cost connectivity solutions in areas where network coverage and broadband services have been limited or are nonexistent.

“We are thrilled to partner with Avanti to provide key telecommunication services to rural regions in sub-Saharan Africa, ultimately connecting the billions worldwide who lack telecommunications and Internet access,” says Clear Blue cofounder and CEO Miriam Tuerk.

“With only 26% of sub-Saharan Africa already connected through mobile Internet, we are looking forward to bringing connectivity to areas where costs and lack of infrastructure make Internet services prohibitive.”

Avanti COO Libby Barr adds that, together with Clear Blue, the group will be able to deploy thousands of sites across sub-Saharan Africa, connecting a population that is growing at 2.7% a year, more than double the rate of growth in South Asia and Latin America.

Further, the region is expected to become one of the largest telecommunication markets in the world.

“We expect the remote telecommunication market to continue to take off and we are looking forward to being at the forefront of the rural network coverage expansion,” Barr continues, noting that telecommunication operators are expected to invest $52-billion in infrastructure from 2019 to 2025, much of which will be in rural deployment.