Page 37 - SAMENA Trends - October 2021

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Eutelsat’s Konnect Africa Selected by Globacom to Bring Satellite
Broadband to Underserved Regions of Nigeria

In the presence of the French selected by Globacom, one of the leading added: “We are delighted to add satellite
President, Emmanuel Macron, Eutelsat telecommunications operators in Africa’s services to our portfolio, leveraging the
Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and most populous market, to extend the state-of-the art EUTELSAT KONNECT
Globacom have signed at the Elysée Palace reach of its services. This agreement satellite to extend connectivity to even
in Paris, a multi-year, multi-Gbps wholesale illustrates the unparallel resources of our far-flung areas in Nigeria, in line with
capacity contract, enabling Globacom to powerful EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite to our mission to build Africa’s biggest and
extend its coverage beyond the reach of satisfy the strong demand for connectivity best telecommunications network. The
its terrestrial infrastructure, leveraging in underserved regions throughout the infrastructure will complement our Glo 1
the EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite. The African continent.” Dr. Mike Adenuga submarine cable and extensive fiber optic
service will be used to deliver high-speed Jr., Chairman of Globacom Limited, layout across the country.”
broadband via satellite to businesses
and communities in unconnected and
underserved areas throughout Nigeria.
Globacom, trading under the name Glo,
is a multinational telecommunications
company and the second largest operator
in Nigeria, with a market share of circa 28%
and over 51 million subscribers. In service
since early 2021, EUTELSAT KONNECT is a
new-generation High Throughput Satellite
offering unprecedented operational
flexibility. Delivering significant resources
for broadband services with quasi-
complete coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa,
it adresses direct-to-user consumer and
enterprise broadband services, with a
comprehensive range of packages from
bite-sized “pay as you go” vouchers
through to monthly and annual contracts.
Commenting on the agreement, Rodolphe
Belmer, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat,
said: “We are honored to have been

Facebook Growth Unabated by Headwinds

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used its impact of Apple’s changes more than a of complaints about Facebook’s handling
Q3 earnings call to address challenges year ago. The social media company’s of hate speech, claiming it is the victim of “a
confronting the company and noted it is revenue increased 35 per cent year-on- coordinated effort to selectively use leaked
growing despite these major obstacles. The year to $29 billion despite the iOS move, documents to paint a false picture of our
executive referenced recent changes made with net income of $9.2 billion up 17 per company”. The CEO spoke just a few hours
by Apple to protect user privacy, which cent. Daily active users rose 6 per cent to after former employee Frances Haugen
make it much harder for Facebook and other 1.9 billion. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg testified to UK politicians regarding claims
services to deliver targeted advertising. explained 60 per cent of video revenue Facebook protects profits rather than
“As expected, we did experience revenue was mobile-first, which it defines as clips restricting hateful or provocative posts.
headwinds this quarter”, Zuckerberg said. of 15 seconds or less, or shot vertically.
Facebook warned investors about the Zuckerberg addressed the growing chorus

37 OCTOBER 2021