O3b satellite to improve internet connectivity

On Monday, the launch of the first satellite of the O3b (other three billion) satellite constellation was stalled due to bad weather conditions at the Sinnamary spaceport in French Guiana.

The launch of the all important satellite to enhance internet and broadband connectivity for 3 billion and over people who currently have difficulties or do not have access has been rescheduled for today, Tuesday June 25, 2013. O3b says the aim of its new network is to change the broadband experience for millions of people.

The Google-backed O3b Networks plans to offer broadband services across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and The Pacific. Connections will be available via local partners such as the UAE’s Etisalat, with which O3b signed a deal in 2011.

The relatively low orbit of the O3b satellites, compared with the more common satellite altitudes of around 36,000km, means that the less delay in the voice and internet data they handle, according to media reports.

O3b’s second four satellites are due to be launched in September and operations will start in November, the company said.

The spacecraft will pick up this traffic as they pass overhead and then relay it to ground stations, or teleports, for onward connection to global networks. "The network was designed to avoid much of the difficulty that satellite connectivity provides today which is this delay," said O3b CEO Steve Collar.

"We've all been on a satellite call, and you have that 600 milliseconds delay, which doesn't sound like much, but it's enough to make that connection almost unusable. It's just as much of a problem on data networks. If you are on the internet and are searching for a site, it affects your behavior if you get slow responses. You'll stop using the service. We wanted to fix those problems, and the only way to fix them is to bring the satellites closer to Earth."

Satellite broadband is getting more useful these days; Spot beams mean that downlinks aren't spread right across the footprint and allow the same frequency to serve multiple receivers, but O3b also addresses the latency problem which usually afflicts satellite systems.

With the successful launch of this satellite, the impact on developing countries especially will be well felt; this is to say that customers are expected to pay less for calls and broadband services with improved speed and connectivity.

Currently in Ghana, customers have on numerous occasions accused network operators of over-charging as well as bashing them for providing poor services.