Global satellite service provider O3b Networks has announced the signing of satellite connectivity contracts with three Somali telecoms operators.

Golis Telecom, which provides services in the Puntland region, has signed a multi-year agreement to use O3b’s satellite constellation to bring reliable, high speed connectivity to its customers, and will deploy O3b’s trunking solution and its mobile backhaul product.

Somaliland-based operator Telesom, meanwhile, has agreed a multi-year deal to use O3b’s ‘Fiber in the Sky’ satellite network in northern Somalia; Telesom will deploy O3b’s trunking solution, and will also be the first customer to contract with O3b for cellular backhaul in Somaliland.

Finally, Hormuud Telecommunication has inked a multi-year contract to deploy O3b’s trunking solution in the capital Mogadishu, as well as its mobile backhaul product in other areas of central and southern Somalia.

O3b notes that the deployment of O3b connectivity by Golis, Telesom and Hormuud is part of a broader rollout that will cover most of the big towns in their respective operating regions using the new O3b satellite services.

The company says that it will land 700km wide satellite beams in the areas to provide the three operators with reliable connectivity.

‘We are very happy to be delivering the high speed satellite connectivity O3b offers,’ commented chairman andCEO of Hormuud Telecom, Ahmed M. Yuusuf, adding: ‘Many applications are only possible with low latency and satellite is the preferred option of Hormuud Telecom when it comes to delivering its fixed broadband, mobile broadband and Cloud Applications Services to its customers in all the major towns of Somalia.

Only O3b can deliver these capabilities over satellite, and that’s what customers in Somalia increasingly demand.’

Source: telegeography