SES Extends Digicel Partnership to Provide Tonga with Disaster Network Resiliency via O3b
September 14 2022 - 6:00PM
Business Wire
Digicel will leverage SES’s Medium Earth Orbit
O3b satellites to provide reliable connectivity to Tonga for
disaster relief
SES and international mobile network operator Digicel announced
today they will extend their partnership to provide the Kingdom of
Tonga with long-term disaster resiliency to minimise bandwidth
disruptions. Under the agreement, Digicel will benefit from SES’s
expertise in offering disaster resiliency via SES’s O3b satellite
constellation to deliver low-latency and high-throughput
connectivity and protect the Tonga population from future
communication interruptions in the event of a natural disaster.
Launched in 2013, SES’s O3b satellites are orbiting 8,000 km
above the Earth's surface in medium earth orbit (MEO) and delivers
low-latency connectivity services to any area within 50° north or
south of the equator. For the past decade, governments and
businesses around the Pacific have been benefitting from the
fibre-equivalent performance of the O3b satellite
constellation.
The Kingdom of Tonga has suffered two major connectivity
disruptions in the last four years, the latest being the result of
the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption and subsequent
tsunami in January 2022 which severely damaged undersea
communication links. In the immediate wake of the disaster, Digicel
had leveraged SES’s Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite
capacity to restore temporary connectivity on the islands, allowing
Tongan residents to connect with their families and loved ones. As
the damaged cable connecting the islands of Vava’u and Tongatapu in
Tonga undergo repair, SES’s MEO satellite service provides Vava’u
residents of with connectivity. Once the cable is fully repaired,
it will become a resiliency service to the main cable that connects
the island to Tongatapu.
The new agreement will see Digicel use SES’s O3b satellite
system, which will deliver multiple Gbps of capacity for a
quick-deploy connectivity to shield the islands in Tonga from
potential communication disruptions in the future. The high
throughput provided by SES’s O3b satellites will ensure reliable
connectivity for first responders and the entire population of
Tonga.
“The islands in the Pacific are highly vulnerable to natural
disasters, and it is vital during such crises to have resilient
network connectivity. This is crucial in ensuring relief efforts
can go smoothly and the affected populations can connect with their
families and loved ones living in other parts of the world,” said
John Turnbull, Director of Pacific Region at SES. “With our
continued partnership with Digicel, SES is glad to deliver
high-performance, reliable connectivity to the residents in Tonga
using our O3b satellites. SES’s second-generation MEO satellite
communication system O3b mPOWER promises unprecedented flexibility,
unparalleled throughput and scalability, all of which are key to
providing resiliency for vulnerable communities across Asia
Pacific.”
“SES’s multi-orbit satellite fleet has enabled us to
quickly deploy domestic connectivity to the island of Vava’u at a
time when it is crucial to keep people connected. We are glad to
extend our partnership with SES and continue leveraging their O3b
satellite services to protect the residents of Tonga from future
disasters,” said Mudassar Latif, Chief Technology Officer at
Digicel Group. “We look forward to future collaborations with SES
to bring multi-orbit satellite communications to other markets in
the Pacific, especially those that are vulnerable to natural
disasters.”
To learn more about SES’s MEO satellites, please visit
https://www.ses.com/newsroom/o3b-mpower.
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About SES
SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere
on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and
providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in
global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world’s
only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique
combination of global coverage and high performance, including the
commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By
leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is
able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on
land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s
leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators,
governments, connectivity and cloud service providers,
broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s
video network carries ~8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach
of 366 million households, delivering managed media services for
both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris
and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information
is available at: www.ses.com
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Suzanne Ong External Communications Tel. +352 710 725 500
suzanne.ong@ses.com
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