Submarine fibre, LEO satellites and new spectrum rules are turning the remote British island into a potential telecommunications hub.

For centuries distance has been the main limit of St. HelenaThe British Isles in the South Atlantic, located between Africa and South America and far from the world's major economic hubs, is now seeking to use that very isolation as an infrastructure resource. The project is taking shape in Horse Point, where an area has been designated for St. Helena Space Park and where the OneWeb satellite constellation has installed a ground station connected to the island's new international connectivity.

The model combines two infrastructures that are usually discussed separately: satellites in orbit and cables laid on the ocean floor. Saint Helena has had an operational connection to the submarine system since 2023. Equiano, created by Google between Europe and southern Africa. The branch that reaches the island measures approximately 1.154 kilometers and is grafted onto the backbone that connects Portugal to the north and Cape Town to the south. The satellite station can thus receive and transmit signals into space and route traffic through international optical fiber.

In 2025, the Government of St. Helena confirmed that the OneWeb station at Horse Point was already using cable capacity, contributing to infrastructure costs. Meanwhile, the regulatory framework has also changed: a new communications framework has replaced rules dating back to 1989, and in January 2026, specific tariffs for spectrum use by carriers came into force. Earth StationsThe Space Park project is therefore not just a territorial development proposal: it now has physical infrastructure, a primary operator, and a dedicated regulatory system.

Equine fiber breaks centuries-old isolation

The transformation starts from the sea. The branch of Equiano It reached Rupert's Beach in August 2021, the first landfall completed in the entire cable project. Testing and commissioning were subsequently completed in 2023. In October of that year, the connection was made available to the island's network, reducing the reliance on satellite communications that, for such a remote territory, resulted in capacity constraints and high costs.

However, this infrastructural leap does not automatically equate to a modern local network. A public audit of the project also revealed the difficulties encountered in attempting to build a new fiber optic infrastructure on the island: the contract with Maestro Technologies for the Design, Build, and Transfer project was terminated after design, management, and implementation issues. The arrival of a high-capacity international cable and widespread connectivity distribution are, in fact, two distinct technical and industrial challenges.

Equiano's value to St. Helena also goes beyond home Internet access. Rupert's Cable Landing Station It is owned by the government, which controls its management, power supply, maintenance, and colocation services. Communications legislation also establishes the principle of access to infrastructure under transparent and non-discriminatory conditions. The cable can thus be treated as public infrastructure on which to build businesses targeting outside the island.

This is where fiber and space meet. A satellite ground station must exchange large amounts of data between antennas and terrestrial networks. An oceanic island equipped with an international backbone can act as a bridge: it receives traffic from the constellation and transfers it to the global fiber network, or it takes the reverse route. Remoteness thus ceases to mean merely distance from markets and becomes a useful characteristic for the geographic distribution of infrastructure.

Horse Point connects LEO satellites to the undersea network

The transition from strategy to first investment took place in June 2023, when the Government signed with OneWeb a lease to develop a ground station at Horse Point. The area had already been identified as the site of the St. Helena Space ParkSure South Atlantic participated in the realization as local agent.

The gateway's function is precise: to connect the satellite network to the global fiber optic network via St. Helena. OneWeb has built a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, or LEO, intended for broadband telecommunications. Compared to traditional geostationary satellites, which are positioned approximately 35.786 kilometers above the equator, LEO satellites operate at much lower altitudes and require a large constellation and a distributed network of ground-based gateways.

Geography thus becomes a factor again. A global satellite network doesn't eliminate terrestrial infrastructure: it changes its function. Antennas, backhaul links, undersea cables, spectrum availability, and power supply remain physical components of the system. A constellation can cover vast ocean regions, but data must still enter and exit the terrestrial network at appropriately distributed points.

According to the Government, the Horse Point gateway allows satellite network traffic to be routed through Equiano. The station's presence has also been linked to the extension of coverage into the most remote areas of the South Atlantic, including areas affected by communications with Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, as well as connectivity usable by ships and aircraft.

The infrastructure also creates a unique economic relationship between the global service and the small territory that hosts it. OneWeb pays for use of the site and purchases capacity on the submarine connection. The government has designated these revenues as one of the tools to contribute to the costs of its telecommunications infrastructure. In the 2025 budget, it was confirmed that OneWeb was already drawing bandwidth from the cable.

From 2026, spectrum will have a different price for each antenna

The least visible component of the Space Park is the regulatory one. On 12 January 2026 Saint Helena has adopted the Communications (Spectrum Fees) Regulations, which define administrative costs and fees for frequency use. The document specifically distinguishes between permanent earth stations and differentiates pricing based on the band and type of satellite system.

for Permanent Earth Stations The C, Ku and Ka bands are covered, with a distinction between satellites GSO, i.e. geostationary, and systems NGSO, a category that includes non-geostationary constellations. The annual fees per antenna and per band, in the categories indicated by the regulation, range from 1.000 to 8.500 poundsSpecific categories are also foreseen for Earth exploration services, space operations, space research, and telemetry, tracking, and command stations.

The regulation in fact contemplates the TT&C Earth Stations, intended for Telemetry, Tracking, and Command functions, and stations exclusively for receiving meteorological and Earth observation services. The framework is therefore not built solely around commercial broadband: it can technically accommodate different activities along the satellite communications and Earth observation chain.

Spectrum availability is one of the features that the Government of Saint Helena It presents the region to operators. A small population and low urbanization mean less pressure on frequencies than large metropolitan areas. Added to this are its location in the South Atlantic, a legal structure derived from the British system, and a relatively low risk of major natural or man-made disasters.

Already in 2018, the South Atlantic Earth Station Project identified applications broader than the single OneWeb station: gateways for megaconstellations, links with geostationary and medium-orbit satellites, systems for polar and inclined satellites, telemetry and command infrastructures and the development of a possible cable hub in the mid-AtlanticThe Earth Stations Policy approved in 2020 then created the first framework for authorizing Permanent Earth Stations and Receive Only Earth Stations.

The Space Park will have to demonstrate its economic scale

OneWeb's presence demonstrates that the model can attract at least one operator, but it doesn't yet equate to the creation of a major space district. Public documentation continues to present Saint Helena as a location likely to attract additional ground stations and digital infrastructure. The number and size of subsequent investments will therefore be crucial to understanding whether Horse Point will truly evolve into a satellite telecommunications cluster or it will remain primarily a single gateway site.

There are also constraints inherent to an area with a population of just a few thousand. Materials, specialized equipment, and expertise often must be sourced from outside; maintenance and logistics are more complex than at a continental hub. Furthermore, the capacity of the international connection alone does not solve the problems of the internal network. The fiber audit highlighted how difficult it can be to build the final stretch between international infrastructure and users, even after the cable arrives.

It is precisely this distinction that makes the case of St. Helena interesting from the point of view of digital transformationThe island can sell capacity and services to global satellite networks while simultaneously continuing to improve local access to the same infrastructure. International connectivity thus becomes both a public service and a potential export product.

The new Communications Ordinance also expands public control over critical infrastructure and spectrum. In 2025, the Government explained that the regulatory modernization was intended not only to better exploit Equiano, but also to encourage investment in data centers and additional satellite stationsThe frequency regulations that came into force in 2026 transform part of this approach into measurable economic conditions for those intending to install antennas on the island.

Distance becomes an advantage in the new digital geography

The model reverses a characteristic that has marked the history of Saint Helena. The distance that made the island suitable for Napoleon's exile and that for generations complicated transportation, communications, and economic development today offers relatively free radio space and a midway point between continents. With the Equiano link, that distance no longer necessarily equates to digital isolation.

Horse Point therefore remains a regional experiment rather than a space park in the industrial sense of the term. Its development will depend on its ability to attract other infrastructure, guarantee reliable technical services, and transform the revenue from international connectivity into benefits for the local economy. But some essential elements are already in place: an operational transoceanic cable, a satellite earth station, capacity sold to a global operator and a specific tariff for space frequencies from 2026For one of the most remote inhabited islands on the planet, the new economic geography passes as much beneath the ocean as above the atmosphere.

This is how the Equiano submarine cable landed on the island of St. Helena.

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