Luxembourg-based telecommunications company SES has announced plans to expand its medium-Earth orbit satellite network (MEO) in 2025 year, To provide African customers with more bandwidth and speed connection. The initiative is focused on businesses and telecommunication operators, working in Africa, where there is a significant demand for reliable and high-speed Internet.
Expansion plans
Additional satellites:
- IN 2025 SES will launch three new satellites this year, a u 2026 year - two additional ones. They will expand the existing O3b mPOWER network, which has eight satellites and already provides satellite services to most African countries.
Features of new satellites:
- Orbit: 9000 km above the ground.
- Advantages: low signal delay and high throughput, making these satellites ideal for such applications, such as mobile data transmission and corporate networks.
The goal of the initiative
- Provide broad bandwidth to meet the needs of African telecommunications operators and enterprises.
- Expand coverage for remote and rural areas, as well as regions, where natural disasters disrupt fiber optic networks.
Uses and Customers
Current situation:
- SES has so far sold all available bandwidth to Orange, operating in the Central African Republic.
New clients:
- With the launch of two new satellites, SES will provide additional capacity for Moov Africa, its second client in this region.
- SES also cooperates with other operators, in particular with Vodacom, integrating services in low orbit (LEO) in their decisions.
Technological integration
The company implements the LEO-MEO-GEO model, which combines satellites in different orbits to provide reliable coverage:
- LEO (low orbit): quick response to emergency situations.
- MEO (middle orbit): high bandwidth for mobile communications and business solutions.
- GEO (geostationary orbit): wide coverage for stable communication.
Comment from SES representative
Simon Gatti Saunt, vice president of SES sales in Europe and Africa, emphasized, that the goal of expansion is not only to provide coverage, which already exists, and to increase the capacity of the O3b mPOWER network to meet the growing needs of African customers.