Satellite operator and connectivity provider SES has been in the news recently with backhaul deals in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Peru and Chile aimed at supporting remote connectivity.
Operator Vodafone PNG, the third-largest and newest mobile operator in PNG, and SES have partnered to provide 4G and 5G high-speed mobile broadband services. The high-speed data service will be delivered via SES’s O3b medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation, which will provide Vodafone with high-speed mobile backhaul services for five locations in PNG.
SES says that the fibre-like speeds of the O3b system enable the delivery of cloud computing applications and services to bridge the digital divide, while connecting communities and industries regardless of the remoteness of the location. This is important in PNG where over 86% of the population lives in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the high throughput satellite SES-14 is enabling Andesat, the leading satellite service provider in the Andean Region, to have more capacity and flexibility to connect remote sites and rural communities in Chile and Peru, supporting enterprise services and universal service obligation (USO) commitments.
In Chile, SES-14’s mix of wide beams and high throughput spot beams will be used to support a broad range of advanced, traffic-intensive network applications for the agro-fishing and mining industries, even in remote areas of the country.
In Peru, as part of its project Te Conectamos Perú, Andesat will boost voice and broadband connectivity access and will be able to offer high-throughput satellite services that are reliable, affordable, and cloud ready using SES’s Managed Enterprise Services in 280 remote sites by the end of 2022.
Andesat has been awarded a Rural Mobile Infrastructure Operator (OIMR) license by the Peruvian Government. This is a social initiative that aims to extend mobile cellular networks to rural communities with no prior service. Through the Te Conectamos Perú project, Andesat aims to extend mobile LTE coverage to traditionally hard-to-reach places across the Amazon rainforest, the Andean mountains and deserts.
