Colt Technology Services is partnering with Rivada Space Networks to provide a unique, next generation, connectivity network with the necessary speed, security and performance to drive digital innovation and transformation — the first satellite launch is planned for 2025, with services targeted to start in 2026.
Established in 1992, Colt is a global business spanning 40+ countries, with more than 6,000 employees and more than 80 offices around the world.Colt’s customers benefit from expansive digital infrastructure connecting 32,000 buildings across 230 cities, more than 50 Metropolitan Area Networks and 250+ Points of Presence across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North America’s largest business hubs. Enterprises’ increasing demand to move large quantities of data securely and quickly around the world is placing existing digital infrastructure under greater pressure than ever, requiring organizations to look for new networking technologies.
Rivada’s global, low-latency, point-to-point connectivity network of 600 LEO satellites, the “Outernet,” is a next-generation architecture that combines inter-satellite laser links with advanced onboard processing that provide exceptional routing and switching capabilities to create an optical mesh network in space.
This approach to “orbital networking,” in which data stays in space from origin to destination, creates an ultra-secure satellite network with pole-to-pole coverage, offering end-to-end latencies much lower than terrestrial fiber over similar long distances. By routing traffic on a physically separated network, it provides a layer of defense for any organisation that needs to securely share data between widely distributed sites.
Colt Technology Services will harness Rivada’s Outernet to provide resiliency for high quality voice, video and data solutions and a new level of cybersecurity to enterprises that require secure infrastructure, such as banking and financial services. The Outernet’s fast, seamless and secure connectivity will ramp up network performance and enable true digital transformation and new business opportunities through multi-gigabit bi-directional performance, combined with worldwide reach.
Buddy Bayer, chief operating officer, Colt Technology Services, said, “Our goal is to provide agile, secure, high-performance solutions powered by our resilient, sustainable digital infrastructure with Colt’s industry-leading customer experience. Rivada’s Outernet will offer a new alternative access option for us to deliver the robust, secure, and scalable solutions that our customers expect from us. The opportunities for leveraging this global B2B access solution are vast, and we’re incredibly excited about the partnership.” He continued, “By partnering with Rivada, Colt’s powerful global digital infrastructure expands across the terrestrial, subsea, and now low earth orbit domains. We can truly provide our valued customers with extraordinary connections.”
Declan Ganley, CEO, Rivada Space Networks, said, “We are delighted to be working with a dynamic company like Colt Technology Services to develop space-based solutions to power digital transformation.” Ganley added: “In the digital economy, the security and resilience of communications is becoming increasingly important. The Outernet allows satellites to go beyond their traditional role of ‘gap-filler.’ and as a fully inter-connected orbital network which delivers highly secure connectivity anywhere on the planet, it is rapidly becoming the infrastructure of choice for secure data communications.”
Colt Technology Services will join Rivada’s Customer Advisory Board and conduct a series of technical workshops to structure the collaboration and exchange information on the Outernet’s capabilities.
About the Rivada Outernet
The Outernet is the first unified global communications network. Rivada’s global low-latency point-to-point network of 600 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites is a unique next-generation constellation combining inter-satellite laser links with advanced onboard processing and routing to create a ubiquitous optical mesh network in space. This “orbital network,” in which data stays in space from origin to destination, creates an ultra-secure satellite network with pole-to-pole coverage, offering end-to-end latencies much lower than terrestrial fiber over long distances. And by routing traffic on a physically separated network, it provides a layer of defense for any organization that needs to securely share data between widely distributed sites. The first satellite launch is planned for 2025, with global service targeted to start in 2026.
Rivada expands market access to 18 countries, adds new spectrum
Rivada has, in the last year, secured market access for its Outernet constellation in 18 countries and on every continent. These countries include U.K., Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Colombia, Namibia, and more are in the pipeline.
Rivada has also lined up more than $13.5 billion of business globally for its LEO network and has added 400 MHz of newly available spectrum to its portfolio. The ongoing success in obtaining the national rights to establish and operate a satellite network in low earth orbit using Ka band frequencies, provides trust for investors and prospective distributors that Rivada services can be used on board aircraft, vessels and on land.
In addition to these authorizations, Rivada has also secured expansion bandwidth in various bands for the Outernet network through an additional ITU filing, aptly called “OUTERNET-1”. This was notified through the Administration of Germany and leverages the recent WRC23 decisions to allocate an additional 400 MHz of spectrum of Ka-band over the Americas, as well as new rules for NGSO mobility in Q and V band. With the rights to use the German OUTERNET-1 filing, Rivada will have a firm foot in the door to create options for future expansion.
In the digital economy, the security and resilience of communications is increasingly important to business users and private users alike.These new spectrum blocks are part of Rivada’s roadmap to ensure that resilient and robust infrastructure and the advantages of ubiquitous coverage, low latency, resiliency, and flexibility supports digital development and security across the globe.
“Rivada’s dedicated team, led by Andrea Hols, spread over every region of the world, has embarked on a global outreach to regulators to introduce the Outernet and ensure that investors, distributors, and users have the legal certainty of clear spectrum rights. Market access processes vary from country to country and can take a very long time to negotiate,” said Ann Vandenbroucke, Rivada’s Chief Regulatory Officer. “We are therefore appreciative to those regulators that provide a first wave of official endorsement.”
Declan Ganley, CEO, said, “This marks another impressive milestone for Rivada, in which leading regulatory bodies around the world have approved the roll out of the Rivada Outernet for communications services. And as Germany’s newest LEO satellite operator, we are grateful for the support from the German authorities for this unique communications network. We are now on an exciting path to ensure that the Outernet is available for Europe and globally to solve essential secure connectivity and networking challenges and open up new business opportunities.”
