[SatNews] This is about providing global reach of satellite with the speed of a fiber-optic network providing billions of consumers and businesses in nearly 180 countries with low-cost, high-speed, low latency Internet and mobile connectivity.
The world was recently intrigued with the news that Google plans to spend $1 billion on the launch of satellites to provide Internet access to under-served regions of the globe.
O3b Networks, a company founded in 2007 is already providing services to remote areas, following the launch of its first four satellite network in 2014. Now, O3b is poised to launch the latest satellites in its network, which completes an initial constellation designed to connect the “other 3 billion” (hence the name O3b) people on Etarth who don't currently have any or good quality access to the internet.
Arianespace will send four more satellites from the O3b constellation into a circular orbit at an altitude of 8062 km with the eighth Soyuz launch from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.
Liftoff of the Soyuz ST-B launcher is now scheduled for Thursday July 10:
- 15:55:56, local time in French Guiana;
- 14:55:56 p.m. in Washington DC;
- 18:55:56 UTC;
- 20:55:56 in Paris;
- 22:55:56 p.m. in Moscow
O3b wants ants to ensure that affordable, high speed connectivity is always within reach. High-speed broadband, supported by the O3b network, is key to the development of the global digital economy, there are already 2.1bn mobile broadband subscriptions and this number is set to grow rapidly.
O3b was founded in 2007 by Google's Greg Wyler with the mission: to enable high-speed connectivity in locations around the world where it currently isn't available—in short, to connect the unconnected.
“When we first envisioned bringing high-speed connections to the most remote and underserved people around the world, we knew this was a project that could dramatically improve the lives of billions of people,” says O3b CEO Steve Collar. “With the completion of our initial 8 satellite constellation, that vision is now a reality for the other 3 billion people who need it most.”
When O3b was founded in 2007, populations in remote areas without access to high-speed Internet and voice connectivity were at a big digital disadvantage. There was a distinct and growing divide between the digital “haves” and “have nots,” where those with high-speed connectivity were increasing in productivity, utilizing real-time communications to promote economic growth and improve quality of life.O3b delivers broadband connectivity everywhere on Earth within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator. Its vast coverage area includes emerging and insufficiently connected markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, with a collective population of over 3 billion people (the 'other 3 billion' or O3b) who do not currently have access to this technology.
This is about providing global reach of satellite with the speed of a fiber-optic network providing billions of consumers and businesses in nearly 180 countries with low-cost, high-speed, low latency Internet and mobile connectivity. Operating in medium Earth orbit, O3b's network is reducing network cost and latency—the delay web users experience when loading a web page.
The company's network delivers broadband connectivity within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator, including emerging and insufficiently connected markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.
O3b's first four satellites were launched in 2013 and the company started bringing customers up on its network in the spring of 2014. A third group of satellites are due to launch in Q1 2015, with the company able to expand its network depending on customer demand.
O3b's is a "middle-mile" provider between telcos serving the consumer and major Internet peering points. Using state of the art technology, O3b satellites are smaller and less costly to build and launch than traditional satellites yet, the data rate of this new constellation can pass is many times that of a traditional satellite. Because O3b satellites orbit closer to the earth, they don't suffer from the delay that can be heard on a voice call or seen on a web page download that is delivered over a traditional satellite. Higher data rates, lower latency and more affordable services make O3b a real viable option to not just bridge the digital divide, for 3 billion people, but to actually close it. Learn more here.
