Pan-African telecommunications network services provider, Paratus Group, announces the launch of “Paratus 500” – a defining milestone following the group’s expansion into seven additional African markets earlier this year, including Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Paratus is now licensed to operate in 15 African countries and with this expansion the group becomes one of the first pan-African telcos to cover over 500 million people south of the equator, representing over one-third of Africa’s population and GDP.
Paratus 500 enables Paratus to uniquely connect its 15 licensed operations with a contiguous telecom network across its portfolio. This infrastructure spans diverse terrestrial fibre routes, strategic subsea cable landings and advanced satellite integration, including Starlink, ensuring secure scalable and high-quality connectivity across the sub-equatorial Africa.
Reflecting years of sustained investment in infrastructure, local subsidiaries and strategic partnerships, Paratus 500 includes the East West route which stretches from the east coast of Africa in Maputo, through Johannesburg and across Botswana and Namibia, to the west coast of Africa at the Equiano cable landing station in Swakopmund. The group operates five satellite teleports and maintains nearly 10 000 active satellite services, delivering dependable service across every operating market.
Strategic routes include connections from Johannesburg to Lubumbashi in southern DRC, crossing through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. In Botswana, Paratus has deployed a diverse fibre network via multiple towns to strengthen national reach and cross-border stability.
Ecosystem
Subsea cable systems are a key component of the Paratus 500 ecosystem with international landing points from Angola (Luanda), DRC (Kinshasa), France (Marseilles), Kenya (Nairobi), Lisbon (Portugal), UK (London), Mozambique (Maputo), Namibia (Windhoek), South Africa (Pretoria) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), delivering direct access to global internet hubs. Paratus also connects across the Atlantic to Brazil (Fortaleza), US (Miami and New York), Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the UK (London).
The Paratus express route, powered by the Equiano subsea cable, delivers the lowest latency international connectivity from Johannesburg and Namibia to Europe and the US, offering up to 20 times more capacity than previous West Coast cables.
Strengthening its regional reach yet further, Paratus has integrated LEO (low-Earth orbit) satellite services into its offering. This technology enhances coverage and ensures consistent connectivity in underserved and remote areas where terrestrial infrastructure is scarce or unavailable.
Schalk Erasmus, Paratus Group CEO, comments: “With Paratus 500, we now have the most coverage under licence in sub-equatorial Africa, a goal we have worked towards for many years. This milestone enables us to connect people and businesses across the region with reliable, high-quality network services. Our continued investment in fibre, satellite and strategic partnerships empowers us to deliver scalable connectivity solutions to wholesale, enterprise and individual customers – providing the freedom to connect anywhere, anytime.”
Paratus 500 is the result of sustained investment in robust infrastructure, local operations and strategic partnerships across the region. This foundation supports seamless connectivity solutions spanning fibre, satellite, microwave, software-defined wide area and multiprotocol label switching technologies. Through this diversified network, Paratus delivers a resilient, scalable and customer focused connectivity platform designed to enable growth and opportunity across the region.
About Paratus
Paratus is committed to raising the bar for providing quality connectivity in Africa. With an eye on the future, the group has invested in infrastructure and establishing itself as a key player in delivering integrated network services across the continent. Among its many and diverse achievements, the group has invested in and launched the East-to-West Africa fibre route and the express route from Africa to the rest of the world.
Paratus Group has operations in 15 African countries and employs approximately 800 people and the group’s footprint extends beyond Africa to international points of presence in Europe, the UK and the US.
Born and bred in Africa, Paratus is thinking big as it grows its footprint to deliver Africa’s quality network. The group aims to deliver real value and services to communities across Africa, while making a positive contribution to transformation in terms of both the people and the environment.