The O3b mPOWER system enables Orange to ramp up its consumer and business services, stating with the Central African Republic. Once operational in 2022, O3b mPOWER will deliver multi terabits of global throughput to drive digital transformation and cloud adoption.
Jean-Luc Vuillemin, executive vice president at Orange International Networks Infrastructures and Services, said: “We are thrilled to be partners and early adopters of this innovation with SES, and to be able to offer high-quality connectivity in the most remote locations of the Central African Republic.
“This longstanding partnership fully aligns with our mission of building smarter and open networks to bridge the digital divide in Africa, and to increase the speed and geographic reach of our network.”
With O3b mPOWER, Orange will be able to significantly increase its low-latency MEO-enabled capabilities to support the growth of its bandwidth demand driven by its growing customer base as well as new digital services and financial services.
JP Hemingway, CEO of SES Networks, said: “This new agreement marks a very important milestone for both our companies and also for the broader industry. With the innovative O3b mPOWER system, Orange and SES are revolutionising the telco market, and the way networks can be extended and improved.
“With its ability to power a wide range of telecommunications needs, including cellular backhaul and high-performance cloud connectivity, O3b mPOWER – together with other terrestrial infrastructure – is key to connecting remote and underserved regions in the most economically viable way.”
Orange Central African Republic will use the world’s only multi-orbit network, on SES’s MEO and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites to connect and aggregate 2G/3G traffic from remote base stations around the country to the core network in the capital of Bangui. This, in turn, gives the operator a single source for cellular backhaul and core IP transit, as well as a consistent and seamless experience between the MEO and GEO services.
