Elon Musk's satellite broadband service Starlink, which has over 10,000 satellites and millions of customers in dozens of countries, is actively operating almost across all of Southern Africa, including Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Eswatini, and Lesotho. However, this week, a competing group, Amazon Leo, received the route to South Africa, despite having only 390 satellites and no commercial customers anywhere in the world yet.
The internet provider Herotel, owned by Maziv, an operator of fiber optic and wireless networks, will distribute Leo satellite broadband under the new brand Evry, with a commercial launch expected in 2027. Thus, Amazon has overtaken Starlink. This success was achieved not through technological superiority, large financial reserves, or regulatory privileges, but because Amazon viewed the South African licensing regime as an engineering problem to be solved, while Starlink waited long and loudly for rule changes.
The rules applicable to both companies are identical: to obtain a network license in South Africa, an operator must own at least 30% of historically disadvantaged groups. SpaceX refused to give up a stake in its local operations, and Musk publicly disputed this requirement for years, calling it racially discriminatory. He argued that he could not launch Starlink in the country because 'I am not Black,' turning the licensing issue into a diplomatic and political spectacle. As a result, Starlink remains unavailable in Africa's most advanced broadband market, despite thriving in almost all neighboring countries.
Amazon studied the same rules but reached a different conclusion. Icasa reported in a notification last month that satellite operators currently cannot obtain the necessary network licenses, and that the realistic path to the market is through an existing license holder. Amazon did exactly that: Herotel will hold the licenses, and Amazon will not. This allowed them to avoid conflict over equity, political theater, and posts on X. It turned out that the boring strategy is effective and aligns with Amazon's overall approach to South Africa, including the launch of the regional AWS in Cape Town and years of quiet preparation. Amazon views regulatory hurdles as part of the cost of doing business, whereas Musk sees them as an ideological reason.
Musk's stance led to years of headlines, a central role in tensions between South Africa and the US, but brought no revenue from a market with enormous product demand. This demand is so high that Icasa was forced to combat the smuggling of Starlink terminals through neighboring countries. Consequently, Amazon's compliance secured it a first-mover advantage: an approximate launch date (2027), a distribution partner with wide coverage in small and rural settlements where satellite broadband works best, and an active registration page. Nevertheless, the first announcement does not mean first service, as Leo has not launched commercially anywhere yet, and its debut in South Africa in 2027 leaves room for delays.
Despite this, it cannot be considered a victory for transformation policy. The licensing regime did not extract 30% equity from Amazon because Amazon (apparently) does not need a license at all. If the measure of success is broad ownership of the digital economy, then channeling foreign operators through distribution structures achieves this only formally. Therefore, it would be unwise if the government did not finalize an equivalent to equity capital. The December 2025 policy of Communications Minister Solly Malatsi, allowing multinational corporations to fulfill empowerment obligations through equivalent equity investment programs (EEIPs) instead of ownership stakes, is causing political debate, and experts warn that implementation could take years.
Starlink has already submitted a proposal worth about 500 million rand to connect 5,000 schools, plus 2 billion rand for local infrastructure. However, not every multinational corporation will be able or willing to follow the partnership model like Amazon's; some prefer to operate directly, have their own licenses, and invest accordingly. South Africa, with its stagnant economy and high unemployment, is not in a good position to deter companies actively trying to invest by insisting on one narrow form of compliance. The goal of the rules is transformation, not checkpoint control. The main lesson of this week is the temperament of corporations: in regulated markets, the scarce resource is not the satellite or the capital, but the willingness to find a way through local rules that may not be liked. Amazon, apparently, found such a way, while Musk, with a six-year head start and a product that South Africans are literally smuggling across borders, could not.
The satellite internet access service Amazon Leo already has an adequate number of satellites to begin its operations, as communicated by the company on Thursday, July 2nd. Currently, the fleet has about 396 deployed units.
The 14th launch mission for Amazon Leo was conducted using an Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA), which transported 29 new units. Since April 2025, launch missions have been carried out, and this latest shipment raised the total number of deployed satellites to 396.
Chris Weber, Vice President of Business at Amazon Leo, highlighted the importance of the recent launches, which resulted in over 390 satellites available to provide continuous service in initial latitudes. He mentioned that although there is still work to be done, such as elevating all the new satellites to the correct altitudes, the current launches are sufficient for this year's initial service, and future missions aim only to increase capacity and coverage.
Weber clarified that when he speaks of elevation, he refers to the fact that the Atlas V released the satellites from the last mission at an approximate altitude of 465 km above Earth. Currently, the Amazon Leo team is focused on repositioning these units to an altitude of 630 km. Although Amazon Leo, with about 400 satellites, does not have the same level of efficiency or coverage as Starlink, which operates with over 10,000 satellites, Weber emphasized that upcoming missions will be crucial for network expansion.
The next launch will also be conducted by ULA, but it will use the Vulcan vehicle, capable of carrying at least 40 satellites. This expansion is fundamental because Amazon's intention is to provide the service on a global scale, which includes Brazil, where Amazon signed an agreement with Vrio (Sky) to provide satellite internet in Brazilian territory.
It should be noted that Amazon Leo is the current name for Project Kuiper. The name change occurred in November 2025, as part of the initiative's description, since LEO stands for Low Earth Orbit, which defines the operational level of the service's satellites.
