Photo: RCS Communication.

[Via Satellite 10-05-2016] O3b Networks customer RCS Communication, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in South Sudan, has signed a new agreement to receive more than double its current bandwidth capacity over the next two years. The ISP has also decided to become the first customer to implement O3bPerformance Services site “Diversity” solution.

RCS became one of O3b’s first clients by signing a long-term contract in 2013, prior to the launch of O3b’s first satellites, and became the second African business to use the O3bTrunk product following commercialization of the service in October 2014.

RCS uses O3bTrunk to connect WiMAX and high throughput Point to Multipoint (PtMP) networks in the capital, Juba, to the internet. Despite the country’s current challenging times, RCS has nearly exhausted its contracted capacity as demand for bandwidth continues to increase.

“The timing may seem unexpected for us to upgrade capacity and invest in O3b’s diversity solution, as most players in the South Sudan telco/ISP sector are currently scaling down due to economic and other challenges,” said Flippie Odendal, managing director, RCS. “While RCS is not isolated from these issues and their impact, our investment decision was taken with a long term view, though it will have immediate benefits to our clients once deployed.”

O3b’s Diversity solution leverages the operator’s Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform for intelligent switching across multiple satellite links. The solution uses ground terminals placed in multiple locations to boost network reliability and resiliency.