Huawei and O3b to enable full 3G voice, data and video over satellite

September30, 2013

Huawei, and O3b Networks today announced that Huawei and O3b are to enable full 3G voice, data and video over satellite. This follows rigorous testing of O3b’s system in the Huawei Interoperability Lab in Shanghai, China.  Furthermore, Huawei’s telepresence, video surveillance, unified communication and datacom solutions are also compatible with O3b’s medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellites based on corresponding test results. 

Huawei views the deployment of satellite-based rural broadband as a critical resource for operators, governments and enterprises in remote locations or areas lacking terrestrial infrastructure. It is also of great value to provide such services for people and operations in rigorous environments such as marine ships, drilling platforms in the ocean, and cities in disasters. The increasing usage and rapidly changing standards can quickly impact an operator's profitability and industry operation efficiency. O3b delivers MEO satellite services with capacities four times greater than normal geostationary-earth orbit (GEO) satellite services and a much lower latency of less than 150 ms round trip. Huawei and O3b Networks are working together to provide an innovative service as a suitable alternative to fiber and that significantly enhances user experience with seamless voice, video and data communications. 

Huawei will partner with O3b to establish MEO satellite backhaul for 2G/3G/4G (LTE) systems for Malaysian service provider Maju Nusa. O3b has a major long-term 3G capacity deal, awarded under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications, to provide 3G mobile broadband based on Huawei’s high performance solutions to rural communities in Malaysia. 

In summary, the testing at Huawei’s facilities in China showed: 

§  O3b passed all simulation tests for performance and latency over UMTS/3G mobile backhaul links, including voice, data and video.

§  Full data throughputs were obtained over GPRS/EDGE, 3G/HSPA, and LTE links compatible with user expectations and handset performance.

§  Huawei’s telepresence, video surveillance, unified communication, datacom solutions have smoothly interoperated with O3b’s MEO satellite simulation system. 

Patrick Zhang, President, Enterprise Marketing and Solutions of Huawei, said:

“Huawei is glad to cooperate with O3b in providing high-performance satellite based communication solutions. Huawei utilizes advanced technologies to save transmission bandwidth, increase speed, and overcome jitter introduced by satellites. Both parties share the same commitment in bridging the digital gap and provide specialized solutions like distant education and e-government to raise communication standards in rural areas." 

Steve Collar, CEO, O3b Networks, said:

“Winning Solution Partner Certification from Huawei is an excellent endorsement of our network and further underlines the quality of our offer ahead of our commercial launch in 2014. Huawei testing and passing O3b’s network proves that O3b is almost equivalent to fiber for rural 3G/4G and enterprise communications deployment. By comparison, the latency of geostationary satellites means that there is a noticeable delay in voice conversations and many mobile data applications either perform slowly or not at all.”