talk Satellite Special
Coverage - CommunicAsia 2016
Sponsors
Palau National
Communications Corporation Sees 3G Data Usage Soar,
Again Increases O3b Capacity
O3b Networks announced that its customer Palau
National Communications Corporation (PNCC) has signed an
agreement to increase its allotted capacity to bring
faster, more reliable connectivity to the citizens of
the remote island nation of Palau. O3b Networks
satellite technology is responsible for enabling PNCC to
offer high-performance 3G mobile services to its
customers, with the latency and throughput required to
support other technologies in the future.
Palau is comprised of more than 300 volcanic coral islands in
the Western Pacific Ocean, eight of which are inhabited by more
than 21,000 residents. Historically, achieving connectivity via
undersea cables has been logistically challenging and cost
prohibitive. This upgrade with O3b is a direct effect of the
results PNCC has seen with connectivity through O3b’s
low-latency, high throughput Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
Satellites. O3b Networks is the only satellite operator that can
deliver connectivity comparable to fiber, making it the ideal
solution to bring broadband quality internet to places like
Palau.
Since PNCC began its relationship with O3b in 2013, the
company has experienced dramatic improvement in speed and
reliability of its services. In the short 17-month relationship,
PNCC has upgraded its capacity three times. In addition to
supporting existing 3G data and Wi-Fi hotspots, PNCC currently
supports fixed broadband using DSL. The increase demonstrates
the significant impact access to reliable high-speed broadband
internet has had on demand for improved services in Palau.
“Just because an island nation is remote, doesn't mean it's
residents should be subject to low-performance internet,” said
Imran Malik, Regional Vice President for the Middle East and
Asia for O3b. “Everyone deserves broadband connectivity, and
PNCC is showing the rest of the world it can be done more
easily, quickly and economically with O3b.”
“We launched 3G services as soon as we went live with O3b,
and right away the data usage began increasing,” Paulus K.
Kingzio, General Manager of PNCC. “We needed an international
connection that would support the required 3G networks for
services and applications our customers are demanding, and we
found that with O3b.”