Belgium-based satellite communications firm Newtec Dialog has deployed a new multiservice platform to provide cellular backhaul for the Mauritanian mobile operator Mattel. Newtec says it has installed a Newtec Dialog Hub and deployed several remote sites across Mauritania, initially to deliver 2G mobile connectivity, but eventually also to provide 3G and 4G services to areas underserved by terrestrial networks. Satellite capacity for the project is being provided by the EUTELSAT 8 West B satellite which was launched in 2015. The installation was carried out by Newtec in partnership with GLOBAL Technologies. Mattel, a subsidiary of Tunisie Telecom, is the smallest of Mauritania’s three cellcos by subscribers, behind Mauritel and Chinguitel.