Photo: RCS Communications

[Via Satellite 11-14-2014] RCS Communications has initiated commercial service in South Sudan using O3b Networks’ High Throughput Satellite (HTS) constellation. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) signed a long-term capacity agreement in 2013 to extend the reach of its broadband services.

RCS clients received access to satellite broadband on Oct. 1, 2014. The ISP is using O3b’s service for new high performance services, such as RCS-WiMAX, in and around South Sudan’s capital city, Juba, which has a population of more than 300,000. RCS tested O3b’s service internally prior to integrating into its WiMAX network. The company is the second O3b Trunk customer with commercial service in the world, and second in Africa.

“As one of O3b’s pioneering clients we are excited to report the practical reality after implementation matches the theory of what we hoped to achieve when we decided to contract capacity with O3b for our WiMAX network in Juba,” said Flippie Odendal, managing director, RCS Communications. “With this investment, RCS further differentiated our service offering and allowed scope to increase bandwidth capacity four-fold in the future without the need for major changes at our local gateway.”