-- The impact of high SAT3 prices on landlocked and 'no landing station' countries: SAT3 consortium member, Namibia Telecom, is a 'no landing station country', and sends 60 percent of its voice traffic via satellite, most of the balance being calls to SA. Why? Because the costs of transiting via SA make it more expensive than sending via satellite. Based on a pricing survey, the report looks in detail at these market distortions that have arisen from the position held by the monopoly market supplier.

-- The lowering of prices on the proposed EASSy cable: Although final prices have not yet been announced, it is believed that they will fall in the US$500-$1,000 range (the lower price probably being available after a five year period). This will give users in the largest sub-Saharan African market, SA, a much cheaper alternative, and will drive down what Telkom SA can charge. Over three to five years, this will have the effect of unlocking some of the market distortion problems identified in the previous point in the southern African region. However, it will leave similar problems in West Africa largely unaffected.

Sub-Saharan Africa has seen a fourfold increase in the level of international Internet bandwidth supplied by satellite over the last four years, from 500Mbps in 2002 to 1,86Gbps in 2006. There are now 71 satellites with full or partial coverage of Africa, and seven more are planned.