[SatNews] O3b Networks announces a multi-year strategic framework agreement to provide IP trunking services to Bharti Airtel for Timor-Leste.

Because of the rapid growth of the mobile economy in Timor-Leste, a cost effective solution was needed to cope with the growth of 2G services and to deliver the expected higher performance of new 3G services. Bharti Airtel partnered with O3b to deliver a unique satellite service with the performance of fiber at a fraction of the cost and deployment time of undersea cable.

India-based Bharti Airtel has provided a geostationary satellite connection for Timor-Leste for many years, however as end-users have demanded better network performance to their mobile devices, the latency of that traditional geostationary satellite connection did not support the desired user experience. O3b satellites orbit the Earth in Medium Earth Orbit, one quarter the distance and one quarter the latency of geostationary satellites. The result is dramatically improved voice, data and video performance on fixed or mobile devices.

Bharti Airtel will use the improved connectivity to support growth of 2G/3G customers across Timor-Leste, replacing the bulk of geostationary-based capacity from other service providers.

John Finney, Chief Commercial Officer for O3b Networks said, “Like the rest of our mobile operator customer base worldwide, Bharti prioritizes innovation and refuses to compromise on the overall quality of experience for their customer base. This strategic agreement is a reflection of that commitment.”