Bank Agent-based Satellite Wi-Fi Trial in Africa

Published by Caribou Space as an overview of piloting Wi-Fi access via satellite across Kenya at selected Equity bank agent shops/schools.

As part of the International Partnership Space Programme (IPSP), the UK Space agency designed a grant programme to test out different business models that could deliver tangible economic benefits from the use of UK satellite technology to countries that currently do not maximise these benefits and to generate a bridge between the UK space sector and emerging countries.

The UK Space agency awarded a consortia of partners (Inmarsat, Equity Bank, Dalberg, Caribou Space, Satellite Catapult and BRCK) a grant for the I-Sat Connection Programme to develop and test the business case using satellites through an agent network model across Kenya. The consortia provided cached content Wi-Fi access to 200 agent sites in areas where there is both strong and poor 3G coverage.