Page 16 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2022

INTERVIEW SAMENA TRENDS

One of the unique features about O3b Q.What does O3b mPOWER mean for the MENA region?
A.With the launch of O3b mPOWER satellites, we will be able to
mPOWER is the ability for us to enable offer our customers all around the world unrivalled high throughput,
our customers to choose where they unmatched flexibility, constant low-latency and uncontended
capacity in 2023. More specifically for the MENA region we recently
want to land the beam on. This means signed a tripartite agreement between e& (Etisalat), Microsoft and

that our MENA customers either in SES, where e& will be hosting the co-located SES O3b mPOWER
and Microsoft ground station to facilitate connectivity to the Cloud
Telco or government who are keen to so that customers can optimise their global business operations
have their own O3b mPOWER gateway and accelerate their digitalisation plans while unlocking more
value for their businesses.
can chose its location depending on
their operations and connectivity usage One of the unique features of O3b mPOWER is the ability to enable
our customers to land beams wherever they choose. This means
– something which is highly valued by that our MENA customers either in Telco or in government who
our customers in this region. are keen to have their own O3b mPOWER gateways can choose its
location depending on their operations and connectivity usage –
For the last 10 years, we have seen how our MEO constellation something which is highly valued by our customers in this region.
positively shaped business and communities. For example, in the
Central African Republic, service from O3b, has enabled Orange to Q.What other revolutionary plans do you have in store for the
rollout 3G and 4G cellular services in 10 cities. Orange was also upcoming years?
able to provide better quality broadband services to businesses, A.For the upcoming years, we will continue to develop our offerings
boosting secured mobile data and payment services across the by tailoring and enhancing our products and services jointly with
country. our customers to meet their growing and changing needs. In
addition to the six satellites, we will be launching initially, we will
After having seen how O3b has transformed our customers’ be additionally launching five more satellites to deliver enhanced
businesses and communities’ lives, it is no wonder that we started throughput and performance.
thinking how we can deliver even better performance and flexibility
in connectivity services, and that is when we envisioned our second- We have also ordered another software-defined geostationary
generation of MEO satellites, O3b mPOWER. Built by Boeing, the satellite, SES-26, for the region. The totally digital satellite
O3b mPOWER satellites will start launching this year. Just like O3b, will replace NSS-12 at 57 degrees East to extend content and
it will operate in the medium earth orbit at about 8,000km away connectivity services flexibly across Europe, ME, Africa and Asia
from the Earth’s surface. O3b mPOWER will be providing unrivalled and will support government communications solutions across
high throughput, unmatched flexibility, constant low-latency and the region.
uncontended capacity, enabling customers to support multitude
of segments, including Government, Fixed Data, Energy, Cloud & Through our multi-orbit satellite services, we can enable our telco
Mobility.O3b mPOWER enables us to enhance our services and customers to meet the rapid growth in mobile data usage in their
tailor them to fit our customers’ needs in the most efficient way. markets and support them in complying with their digital inclusion
requirements. At the same time, our different tier of services
Q. What can you tell us about the O3b mPOWER technological could cater to companies and organisations who need secure and
ecosystem? Who are your key partners and how will this system reliable networks for staying connected among offices. At SES, we
impact market segments in a data-dependent world? understand that our customers’ demands can vary, and we aim to
A.The uniqueness of O3b mPOWER lies in the ecosystem of fulfil their connectivity needs seamlessly with a flexible selection
partners. We do not only have satellite partners who will be helping of services.
us build and launch the satellites, we also have a very robust
network of ground equipment and software partners.

Our ground equipment partners such as Gilat, Intellian, ALL.Space,
and Comtech have been developing equipment that will allow us to
simplify and optimise our networks. For example, our customers’
terminals and gateways have been designed and built to make
sure that they are easy to install and are of low-maintenance.

Additionally, through our software partners, we are building an
automation and service orchestration platform where network
services can be effectively and easily managed by our customers
and channel partners.

16 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022