Smart hybrid network operator provisions additional high-capacity coverage to meet throughput growth across sites in Africa and Middle East

Marlink, the smart network solutions company, and SES, the leader in global content connectivity solutions, have responded to booming energy sector demand by providing an additional one gigabyte of SES’s O3b satellite bandwidth capacity to Marlink customers.

The service now available to Marlink’s energy sector customers makes it possible for them to digitalise rig operations, connect crew with ease and provide heavyweight applications such as videoconferencing, workflow tools and Enterprise Resource Planning, in combination with data collection and proactive cyber security.

Marlink is experiencing increased demand across its energy portfolio and is able to meet highly demanding Service Level Agreements common in the sector using software-defined networks (SD-WAN) to optimise the user experience so that applications do not drop out but are assigned priority that keep assets and users connected.

Marlink’s hybrid network seamlessly combines both GEO and high-performance MEO, which can be augmented with LEO and terrestrial 4G/5G coverage. Used in combination, these services provide a seamless, intelligent data flow to enable customers to work from remote sites as active nodes on the corporate network, enjoying full coverage and connectivity.

Since the beginning of 2022, Marlink and SES have been collaborating on seven major energy projects across Africa, providing a full hybrid network solution leveraging SES’s O3b satellites that will be upgraded next year to include SES’s second-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, O3b mPOWER. The framework agreement signed earlier this year between the partners allows Marlink to easily leverage the high performance O3b mPOWER satellite system to deliver uncontended CIR and guaranteed performances to customers in Africa and the Middle East using real-time cloud-based applications.

“MEO capacity forms a vital component of the bandwidth blend that we use to meet the very high bandwidth demand of customers in the energy market,” said Alexandre de Luca, President, Energy, Enterprise and Government, Marlink. “Within our hybrid network, we depend on MEO bandwidth to give users a near-terrestrial experience for the heaviest applications, with smart management of traffic routing and customer priorities.”

“We are pleased to have further extended our strong relationship with Marlink, helping to keep their customers secure and connected,” said Simon Gatty Saunt, Vice President of Networks Sales, Europe at SES. “In addition to its flexibility and high-throughput capacity, O3b mPOWER will allow customers across any market and geography to boost their businesses through digital transformation and unlocking new cloud-based applications.”