Despite Elon Musk's struggles to launch his satellite internet service, Starlink, in South Africa, Amazon Leo, owned by fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, could establish a customer base in the Southern African country.

A recent report shows that Amazon's satellite internet service has inked a deal with South Africa's Herotel to launch a new broadband service in the country before the end of the year. Some reports estimate that the launch could be slated for early next year.

The deal entails that Herotel, the largest fixed internet service provider in South Africa, will employ Amazon satellite technology to provide a new service called evry for residential customers.

With 120 local offices around the country, Herotel presently provides fibre and fixed wireless networks to over 350,000 active clients in over 550 cities.

According to Amazon Leo and Herotel, as seen on Reuters, their collaboration will help close a long-standing connectivity gap in South Africa, where millions of people who live on farms, in small towns, and in rural communities are still unable to access dependable internet services due to the high cost of deploying conventional fibre and wireless networks.

"Amazon Leo and Herotel share the same mission to empower all South Africans through access to high-speed internet.

Herotel has spent years building connectivity across South Africa's farming towns, small businesses, and communities on the outskirts, and with Amazon Leo they can now reach even more people," said David Zapolsky, Amazon's Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer, as seen on Amazon news.

"This collaboration is about breaking down barriers and unlocking opportunity for millions of people who don't yet have reliable access for work, education, or the services they depend on.

"We have always believed that South Africans outside the major metros deserve reliable, affordable internet," said Van Zyl Botha, CEO of Herotel. "With evry, powered by Amazon Leo, we will reach the customers that even fibre and fixed wireless cannot serve. It no longer matters where you live."

This deal is coming in the midst of a heated debacle between the South African government and Starlink, which has stifled Elon Musk's intention to penetrate the market.

Despite launching in several African countries, Starlink has since last year been unable to enter the South African market. This is owing to the regulatory resistance it has encountered in the Southern African country. The regulation in question, South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), requires 30% ownership in specific industries by historically disadvantaged South Africans before obtaining operating licences.

Elon Musk has, however, pushed back on this policy, noting Starlink is blocked from operating in the country because he is "not Black." South African authorities denied these claims, responding that the regulatory structure applies equally to all operators and that compliance with local licensing requirements, not ethnicity, determines market access.

In June 2025, Elon Musk's satellite internet was reported to be exploring an R2.5 billion ($145.6 million) investment as a possible solution to the BEE obligations. The proposal gained traction in December 2025, when South Africa implemented a regulatory adjustment that allows foreign satellite operators to satisfy empowerment objectives through Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs), which allow for developmental investment instead of equity transfer. These, however, failed to ensure Elon Musk's entry into the market.

Since launching its first African service in Nigeria in 2023, Starlink has secured licences in countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and, most recently, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Somalia.

Compared to typical geostationary satellites, which orbit more than 35,000 kilometres above Earth, Amazon Leo's satellites orbit only 590 kilometres, providing lower latency for common use cases including online learning, streaming, video chats, and remote work.

Consumers do not require fibre or fixed wireless infrastructure at their locations; instead, they connect via small antennas.