Pan-African telecoms operator Paratus Telecom has launched its Paratus Communication Service in underserved areas of South Africa, MyBroadband writes. The new offering uses a combination of fibre-optic infrastructure – utilising the in-deployment optical network of South African telecoms company Comsol – and licensed wireless spectrum in the 28GHz band for last-mile access. Managing director Kallie Carlsen said that the service is already live in places such as Empangeni, Port Shepstone, Newcastle, Upington, Nelspruit and Bloemfontein, and is expanding rapidly to other underserved areas; it also covers every major centre in Gauteng.
TeleGeography notes that Paratus Telecom acquired 100% of South African independent provider of last-mile satellite connectivity Maxwell Technology in November 2015. Paratus Telecom was established in Namibia in 2005, and currently has over 2,000 active satellite terminals across Africa.