Can Light-based Internet Speed Up Africa’s Rural Connectivity?

Conrad Onyango

Following on the heels of radio frequencies, fibre-optics and more recently, near-earth orbit satellites, laser beams have been added to the list of technologies offering to transform connectivity in rural Africa and connect millions to the digital economy.

As intense competition unfolds between Starlink and mobile phone operators to bridge the digital access gap in rural Africa, the new provider has emerged with a completely different technology and business model.

Taara, a light-based internet project, has officially spun off from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and is now an independent company positioning itself to offer affordable high-speed internet to rural areas using light beams.

The company has already secured backing from Series X Capital, enabling it to attract external investments for aggressive expansion across Africa and beyond to address the substantial digital divide.

“From beaming connectivity over the world’s deepest river, to deploying in densely populated neighbourhoods, every pilot project and every partnership has helped bring us closer to overcoming the stubborn connectivity gaps that prevent nearly 3 billion people from accessing the internet,” said Taara Chief Executive Officer, Mahesh Krishnaswamy.

The International Telecommunications Union’s latest estimates indicate that 25% of people living in rural areas of Africa still lack any access to the Internet due to inadequate broadband coverage.

This means that rural populations in Africa are significantly less connected than their urban counterparts, with the estimates showing connection rates of 57% for urban areas.

Over the past seven years, Taara has been piloting projects in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana.

The company is best-known for linking the cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville across the Congo River, where traditional fiber-optic development below the fast-flowing and extremely deep river was considered impractical.

As Taara enters its next phase of growth, it is focusing on partnerships with internet service providers, telecommunications companies, and community development networks.

This strategy positions Taara as a notable competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink in the race to connect rural areas.

Assisting telecommunications companies and internet service providers in overcoming connectivity challenges associated with fiber and radio frequency is a major goal for the new company.

“Where fiber fails to reach, operators and service providers often turn to radio frequency to fill the gap. However, traditional radio frequency bands are congested and running out of available bandwidth, making it harder to support 5G expansion and keep up the growing global demand for fast, reliable connectivity,” he explained.

Spurred on by competition from Starlink, Telcos have recently been seeking ways to improve internet connectivity in remote areas of Africa with operators like Orange and Vodacom forming partnerships to share the costs of installing telecom towers in these regions.

Safaricom and MTN have also explored collaborations with near-earth orbit satellite providers.

Taara sees its narrow, invisible light beams that can transmit data through the air at speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second over distances of up to 20 kilometers, as key to helping telcos unlock rural markets.

Another advantage of its technology is that it can be set up in just a few hours, eliminating the need for expensive trenching or cable installation.

Taara is already providing commercial services and pioneering new approaches to wireless optical communication in partnership with Airtel and Vodafone, both of which have established footprints on the continent.

Since 2019, Taara has been collaborating primarily with internet service providers such as Kenya’s Poa Internet, Liquid Telecom, and Teledata ICT in Ghana in order to better understand the dynamic needs of consumers in densely populated, low-income markets in Africa.

One key lesson is the significance of reseller connectivity, according to a case study on its website.

In this model, entrepreneurs like barbers and shopkeepers purchase bandwidth in bulk and sell it in smaller quantities to their neighbors, ensuring that more people can access the internet at affordable rates.

Figures to show how much cheaper the services is compared to other providers have not been disclosed. However, the fact that the company says is working with small ISPs points to very competitive rates.

Connectivity reseller activities have become a significant business in many informal settings across Africa.

In the case study of Kenya and Ghana, Taara developed the Taara Share app, which allows ISPs to establish business agreements with local resellers, community organizations, and residents; an approach the company says has proven to be successful so far.

“These resellers and their customers started creating an entirely new economy and using the internet in incredibly productive ways, from finding new jobs, to improving how they ran their small businesses,” said Taara Share Product Manager, Bhavani Ganesan.

Taara’s reseller connectivity, combined with its strategic partnerships with ISPs and telecom companies, is poised to be its biggest advantage over Starlink.

This approach allows Taara to offer services within an existing footprint and customer base while effectively navigating regulatory challenges.

In contrast, Starlink has primarily operated independently in Africa, competing against local internet service providers in markets like Kenya and Nigeria.

So far, Starlink has not announced any partnerships with local ISPs or telecom companies in Africa.

However, Starlink’s recent initiatives, such as developing Direct-to-Cell services and its partnerships with India’s largest telecom firms, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, suggest that it might consider collaborating with telecom companies in Africa to establish a presence in new markets.

Currently, Starlink is active in 19 African countries and plans to expand into more than 15 additional markets by 2025 — but it still faces significant challenges in obtaining necessary approvals from several countries across the continent.