Despite Icasa's pushback, Minister Solly Malatsi aims to advance South Africa's ICT reforms, enhancing satellite service access and addressing ownership regulatory gaps.
There was a moment of rare alignment in the minister of communications and digital technologies, Solly Malatsi's, 2026/2027 budget vote speech last week. He said that Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services are a vital part of South Africa's digital future, arguing that "rather than wait a decade to develop domestic LEO capacity, we must create conditions for international operators to serve our people now".
It was a rare alignment with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), which rejected his policy directive in the same week, but is also looking to lower the technical and administrative barriers for these satellite internet companies.
Starlink promises internet for rural SA schools -- if BEE rules bend June 24, 2025 While Malatsi addressed South Africa's equity ownership laws multiple times in 2025, Icasa's draft amendments to the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations specifically target the technical licensing hurdles that would otherwise deter a foreign satellite operator.
The times they are a-changin'
The first thing the draft regulations introduce is a new foreign satellite space segment registration process (Regulation 28B). Foreign space segment operators only need to register their systems with Icasa, at no fee,...
