Have you had a customer walk away because your card machine lost signal?

Amazon‘s low-Earth satellite network, formerly known as Project Kuiper, now Amazon LEO, has entered South Africa and is teaming up with local giant Herotel.

Herotel, a local ISP, launched a new service called Evry, powered by Amazon’s satellite, which is set to launch officially in 2027.

Why Should You Care?

If you run a farm, a lodge, a mine, or a small business in town where laying optic cable or building cell towers just costs too much, this completely shifts the landscape.

You are looking at high-speed, low-latency internet anywhere in the country.

Amazon’s Senior VP. David Zapolsky put it simply: this is about tearing down barriers for those who still lack reliable internet for work, education or just simple daily life.

But here’s the best part: because Amazon partnered directly with local ISPs like Herotel, you are not dealing with an overseas call centre or paying in US Dollars. Plus, Vodacom and Vani will use this tech to power cell towers in remote areas – giving metro or peri-urban businesses a rock-solid backup connection when fibre is damaged, stolen, or interrupted by local power failures.

Key Business Takeaway

What this basically means is that rural retailers, farm stalls or pop-up markets will no longer lose sales due to network dropouts during card or digital payment transactions.

And

For city and township businesses, satellite internet acts as the ultimate fail-safe. When fibre lines are damaged, or grid power drops, your operations, payments and communication stay online seamlessly