Rendition of new O3b mPower network. Photo: SES.

CETel has signed a five-year contract with SES Networks to connect new exploration and production sites in Africa via SES’ Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) O3b satellite constellation, the two companies announced.

CETel will leverage the O3b fleet’s low latency and high throughput capabilities for Big Data applications required by the exploration and production industry. According to SES, with round trip latencies below 150 milliseconds, MEO-enabled networks are on par with standard fiber connections, and are more reliable and faster to deploy than other infrastructure.

The inking of this MEO deal with SES empowers CETel to serve new applications where lower-latency connectivity matters, and to complement the business applications it currently serves today, according to the company.

“We see MEO connectivity as an ideal extension that complements connectivity delivered by established Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. The fleets have their own unique capabilities and are suited for different applications that will help meet the growing demands of content and data delivery,” said Guido Neumann, CETel managing director.