Colombian services provider SkyNet and satellite operator SES Networks have announced that they have extended their partnership and increased network capacity in the country to support coronavirus mitigation efforts.
SkyNet has leveraged SES Networks’ Signature Solutions to deliver connectivity services to the Colombian region with the highest coronavirus infection rate and lowest internet penetration in the country, according to an announcement from SES.
The Colombian Ministry of Telecommunications (MinTIC) selected SkyNet to install, operate and maintain five free Wi-Fi hotspots in the municipality of Leticia in the Amazonas region to connect residents, as well as a high-speed dedicated broadband service for the local hospital’s medical and administrative teams. These services are enabled by SES’s low-latency high-throughput O3b medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation.
SkyNet has been leveraging SES’s O3b MEO services to connect remote Colombian regions since 2015. Today, SkyNet has become the incumbent provider in Leticia, delivering connectivity services to hundreds of households and businesses in Leticia, while also enabling access to e-learning platforms for a significant number of local students who cannot travel to attend classes due to the impact of the coronavirus.
SkyNet is now also leveraging the geostationary SES-14 satellite to enable a Wi-Fi zone for residents, local business and the municipal mayor´s office in Puerto Nariño, another municipality in the Amazonas.