Orange maritime customers can accelerate their digital transformation with higher-capacity satellite connectivity services provided jointly by SES Networks and Orange.

According to a new agreement between Orange and SES Networks, Orange will integrate its own global infrastructure with the global network coverage powered by SES Networks’ Skala Global Platform.

The companies say this will enable Orange maritime customers to cost-effectively scale up their bandwidth with seamless, ubiquitous and global services.

“This will ensure they can implement new technologies onboard that take advantage of IoT and AI, as well as edge and cloud applications,” reads an excerpt from a statement issued by the companies.

“The combination of the Orange secured and digital network infrastructure and SES Networks’ Skala Global Platform - a next-generation technology platform which provides worldwide coverage via multiple geostationary satellites and gateways interconnected by a global terrestrial network - will deliver reliable, high-performance broadband services everywhere, from developed markets to the hardest-to-reach places on Earth. This confirms the Orange ambition to become a key player offering solutions for the maritime sector,” the statement continues.

According to the companies, the maritime industry is on the threshold of rapid technological change, challenging shipping companies to incorporate a wide range of digital solutions to remain competitive. Shipping fleet operators need to implement automation and digitalisation of onboard processes to ensure optimum performance, efficiency and reliability.

This latest agreement further strengthens the partnership that the Orange Group and SES Networks have established in the last few years. 

Orange has leveraged SES’ innovative O3b satellite constellation operating in medium earth orbit (MEO) as well as SES’ geostationary satellites to deliver global fibre-like, low-latency services to their mining customers. Orange has also been using SES’s MEO and GEO services to provide international connectivity where needed and to deploy cellular services across remote areas of Africa. Orange is also the first announced network operator to adopt O3b mPOWER, SES’s next-generation MEO system, which is planned for commercial service availability in the second half of 2022.

“At Orange, we continue to believe that satellite is a future-oriented technology and that the many recent innovations in this industry will give it a growing place in the telco area, whether in Africa, in more developed areas such Europe or North America, or in specific industries such as maritime. This is why we are glad to reinforce our partnership with SES, as it will add a new component to our overall mission at Orange, that of building intelligent, open and innovative networks in order to support the digital transformation of our business customers and provide access to digital usage to the largest number of people,” said Jean-Luc Vuillemin, Executive Vice President, Orange International Networks Infrastructures and Services. “With the commercial maritime sector seeking global and high-quality connectivity as it enters the next stage of digitalisation to implement more AI and other automated technologies, expanding our partnership with SES is fitting as we will be opening the door to more exciting innovations for our maritime customers.”

John-Paul Hemingway, CEO of SES Networks, added: “We have been working closely together with the Orange Group the last couple of years to provide high-performance connectivity services worldwide to their customers in many different industries. As our partner, they were the first major telco player to embrace our upcoming O3b mPOWER and now collaborating together on our Skala Global Platform, SES will deliver new levels of connectivity, creating seamless, reliable global coverage for those in the maritime industry. Our flexible bandwidth solution removes any barriers that might be holding shipowners back from realising the full value when it comes to their digital investments.”