Pan-African telecommunications and network services provider Paratus Group has launched Paratus Rwanda, as the company continues its strategic expansion across Africa.

Paratus Rwanda will provide and install Starlink services, delivering high-speed broadband Internet connectivity to businesses throughout Rwanda, targeting key sectors, including retail, financial services, government, non-governmental organisations, agriculture and tourism.

“We are building Africa’s quality network by investing in infrastructure, services and people across the continent. Rwanda’s dynamic and fast-growing market aligns perfectly with our vision, and the addition of Paratus Rwanda strengthens our ability to serve customers with unmatched reach and reliability,” said Paratus Group CEO Schalk Erasmus.

The service will particularly benefit enterprises operating in remote and underserved areas where there is a lack of traditional infrastructure.

Further, businesses and institutions are increasingly seeking resilient and alternative connectivity solutions amid past disruptions caused by subsea cable outages across the region.

Paratus was awarded the African distributorship of Starlink global low Earth orbit satellite services in 2023, enabling the group to offer satellite connectivity across multiple African markets.

Starlink’s service, providing reliable high-speed, broadband Internet using a simple, scalable hardware platform that can be easily distributed across locations around the world, is especially suited to rural and hard-to-reach areas, while also offering urban enterprises reliable backup options to safeguard their operations.

Starlink currently provides services to thousands of business locations and serves customers in a multitude of capacities, including primary or back-up enterprise connectivity, land mobility or as a temporary setup for emergency services.

Across its network, Starlink maintains greater than 99.5% up-time across all customers – and higher for unobstructed installations. Up-time is measured without mitigating factors, such as weather and localised outages.

“We are delighted to be commencing operations in Rwanda as this marks another significant move in our plan to connect more and more people across the continent of Africa. It is exciting to be able to unlock potential in Rwanda and, through Internet access, open a world of possibilities,” added Paratus Group chief commercial officer Martin Cox.