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Eutelsat and NEC XON seal agreement for Eutelsat OneWeb capacity for connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa

21 March 2024

Eutelsat Group and NEC XON, one of the leading African integrators of ICT solutions and part of Japan’s NEC Group, have signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal for connectivity capacity on the Eutelsat OneWeb Low Orbit constellation.

The deal builds on the Distributor Partner Agreement between the two companies announced at Africacom in November 2023, and follows a period of successful tests undertaken by NEC XON in recent weeks.

The agreement enables NEC XON to integrate satellite capacity into its suite of systems, providing secure connectivity for enterprise customers in areas that lack terrestrial connectivity - especially in agriculture, mining, oil & gas and fibre back-up. The service will be launched initially in South Africa, with a view to deploying it in 15 other countries where NEC XON has a local presence.

Commenting on the deal, Faried Souma, GM Wireless at NEC XON, said: “The implementation of OneWeb satellite technology provides NEC XON customers with significant benefits - including low latency and high bandwidth capabilities, even in far-flung areas without access to conventional internet connectivity. As a backup solution, OneWeb provides resilience and reliability to ensure business continuity even in the face of natural disasters or infrastructure failures. The technology can be deployed quickly and easily, and for key NEC XON target markets like mining and agriculture, low-latency satellite options are crucial as real-time, data-driven business applications proliferate. They also face severe business consequences if connectivity fails.”

Ghassan Murat, Regional Vice President AMEA of Eutelsat Group added: “We are delighted to ink this agreement with NEC XON, paving the way for them to become one of our important partners in sub-Saharan Africa. We are gratified to see NEC XON embracing the benefits of OneWeb services as part of its suite of options. NEC XON is one of the fastest growing African ITC integrators, and we look forward to supporting them on their path.”