French telecommunications firm Orange will be the first telco to adopt the O3b mPOWER, a next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite communications system by SES.

In a statement Orange claims the solution will help it to ramp up its consumer and business services, starting in the Central African Republic.

The companies describe O3b mPOWER as "the world's only fully-funded non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) broadband system in development today."

An excerpt from the statement reads: "Positioned at only 8,000 kilometres away from Earth, the system will power low-latency high-throughput solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into existing terrestrial networks. When operational in 2022, O3b mPOWER will provide multiple terabits of throughput globally to drive digital transformation and cloud adoption virtually anywhere on the planet."

The companies explain that the O3b mPOWER constellation comprises ultra-high-capacity, low-latency, highpower MEO satellites... "each with up to 5,000 fully-shapeable and steerable beams that can be shifted and scaled in real-time to meet customers' demands."

The system is ideally suited for domestic cellular backhaul and simultaneous international IP trunking applications, according to the companies.

Orange is described as a strategic partner for SES, given its presence in Africa and the Middle East, and with satellite gateways in several countries.

"With O3b mPOWER, Orange will substantially increase its low-latency MEO-enabled capabilities to support the growth of its bandwidth demand, driven by the ever-growing customer base, the new digital uses and financial services. The revolutionary system will enable Orange to offer high broadband and seamless connectivity, while extending geographical reach," the companies explain.

"In addition, Orange Central African Republic will leverage the world's only multi-orbit network, utilising SES's MEO and GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) satellites to connect and aggregate 2G/3G traffic from remote base stations around the country to the core network in the capital of Bangui. This gives the operator a single source for cellular backhaul and core IP transit, as well as a consistent and seamless experience between the MEO and GEO services."

Jean-Luc Vuillemin, Executive Vice President at Orange International Networks Infrastructures and Services, said: "We are thrilled to be partners and early adopters of this innovation with SES, and to be able to offer high-quality connectivity in the most remote locations of the Central African Republic. This longstanding partnership fully aligns with our mission of building smarter and open networks to bridge the digital divide in Africa, and to increase the speed and geographic reach of our network."

JP Hemingway, chief executive officer of SES Networks said: "This new agreement marks a very important milestone for both our companies and also for the broader industry. With the innovative O3b mPOWER system, Orange and SES are revolutionising the telco market, and the way networks can be extended and improved. With its ability to power a wide range of telecommunications needs, including cellular backhaul and high-performance cloud connectivity, O3b mPOWER - together with other terrestrial infrastructure - is key to connecting remote and underserved regions in the most economically viable way."