Orange’s maritime customers will enjoy higher-capacity satellite connections thanks to its new pact with partner SES Networks.
The mobile operator will integrate its global infrastructure with the SES Networks Skala Global Platform.
The boost in bandwidth makes it cheaper for Orange’s maritime customers to create global digital services using its Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), edge and cloud computing applications.
SES Networks’ Skala Global Platform provides worldwide coverage via multiple geostationary satellites and gateways interconnected by a global terrestrial network. The pact with Orange creates two main improvements: secure broadband services to developed markets and extended coverage to Earth’s remotest and least accessible corners.
The maritime industry, which has suffered a container distribution crisis recently, has been hampered in its ambitions for rapid technological change. Shipping companies need a plethora of digital inventions to remain competitive, according to Orange.
Satellite will be the future of the comms industry as new inventions make it a core telco technology. says Orange. "It's the same whether services are in Africa, developed areas like Europe and North America, or in specific areas such as Maritime,” said Jean-Luc Vuillemin, Executive Vice President, Orange International Networks Infrastructures and Services.
The partnership with SES supports the digital transformation of customers and widens access to the largest number of people. “The commercial maritime sector is seeking global and high-quality connectivity as it enters the next stage of automated technologies,” said Vuillemin, “expanding our partnership with SES will open the door to more exciting innovations for our maritime customers.”
Flexible bandwidth gives shipowners the full value of their digital investments, John-Paul Hemingway, CEO of SES Networks said: “As our partner, Orange was the first major telco player to embrace our upcoming O3b mPOWER.”
This is the latest in a series of recent service partnerships between Orange Group and SES Networks. Orange uses the SES O3b satellite constellation operating in medium earth orbit (MEO) as well as SES’ geostationary satellites in a bid to provide fibre-like, low-latency services across the globe to its mining customers. Orange also uses SES’s MEO and GEO services to provide international connectivity and cellular services across remote areas of Africa.
Orange is the first announced network operator to adopt O3b mPOWER, SES’s next-generation MEO system, which is planned for commercial service availability late in 2022.