Telesom Company to deliver high speed broadband using O3b Mobile Backhaul Solutions

March 9, 2015

O3b Networks today announced that Telesom has signed a multi-year agreement to use O3b’s unique ‘Fiber in the Sky’ satellite network in northern Somalia. The Somaliland Mobile Network Operator (MNO) will be deploying O3b’s trunking solution, and will also be the first customer to contract with O3b for cellular backhaul in Somaliland.

Established in 2001, Telesom is a leading mobile operator offering Somaliland’s mobile subscribers both voice and data services. The company was the first GSM operator and Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Somaliland, and launched 3G service in July 2011. The company covers ALL Somaliland towns and villages.

The deployment of O3b connectivity by Telesom is part of a broader roll out that will cover most of the big towns in Somaliland by satellite using the new O3b satellite services. O3b Networks will land 700km wide satellite beams in the North Eastern Regions to provide Telesom with unprecedented, reliable connectivity across these Regions.

The use of O3b satellites, which are in a unique orbit closer to the earth than conventional geostationary satellites, reduces latency, increases data rates and improves voice and video quality for the user.  The high throughput O3b satellites also offer much greater capacity, supporting up to 1.6 Gbps in a single beam.

Abdikarim M. Eid, Managing Director of Telesom Company said:

“We are excited to bring new capabilities to our customers in Somaliland, only possible with O3b's connectivity. Telesom prides itself in being a leader in quality and services for our subscribers, and with O3b we will be able to expand our service offerings.”

Omar Trujillo, O3b VP for LATAM and Africa said:
“O3b is very excited to be working with such a strong company in Somaliland. Telesom is the perfect company to deliver O3b’s high throughput capacity to Somaliland, and we believe the expanded capacity will be transformational for Telesom’s customers.”