Enhanced Satellite Connectivity in Papua New Guinea

 

Global satellite communications service provider SpeedCast International Limited has entered into an agreement with O3b Networks, where O3b will provide capacity for Papua New Guinea via its Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation.

 

The O3b-based service will allow SpeedCast to deliver high throughput and low latency internet services to local customers. SpeedCast’s high bandwidth new IP Trunk from Port Moresby to the international Internet backbone will enable high throughput voice and data services, whose performance will be similar to or even exceed that of traditional fiber connectivity, SpeedCast said. O3b’s MEO configuration provides low latency in satellite communications of less than 150 milliseconds.

 

SpeedCast said the new network will complement its existing global network, which utilizes traditional Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite capacity and is the basis of SpeedCast’s comprehensive coverage. SpeedCast’s traditional network will further serve as a redundant backup solution in the event of a primary network failure or other type of outage. With redundancy built-in at all layers of its network, SpeedCast can offer its customers unprecedented levels of reliability.

 

“As a long-term key player in the PNG market, we understand our customers’ business needs and how service availability or speed limitations can impact their business activities. This new investment shows our commitment to the PNG market,” said Pierre-Jean Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast.

 

O3B has already pioneered this type of innovative satellite communications model in a number of Pacific nations, who are now experiencing levels of performance which they have never seen before over a satellite network.

 

Steve Collar, CEO of O3b Networks, said, “SpeedCast’s customers in the region will enjoy much improved connectivity with fiber-like speeds with the reach and reliability of satellite.”

 

The new partnership with O3b follows SpeedCast’s acquisition of a PNG-based telecommunications provider, Oceanic Broadband Services and its new teleport facilities in Port Moresby in 2014, and will expand to other territories in the Pacific.