A new satellite communications infrastructure is being built to connect the developing world.

O3b Networks Ltd. is launching the world’s first high-speed, low-cost satellite system to transform communications access for Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

The company announced this week that it will begin deployment of a new global communications infrastructure, backed with financial and operational support from Google Inc., Liberty Global, Inc. and HSBC Principal Investments.

The O3b Networks system will offer fibre performance over satellite, at prices comparable to fibre in developed regions. By allowing direct connection to core networks and 3G Cellular/WiMAX towers, the O3b Networks system will completely change the economics of telecommunications infrastructure in the world’s fastest-growing markets for communications services.

The system will reduce bandwidth costs for telecommunications operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), enabling cost-effective voice and broadband services at speeds equivalent to those enjoyed in the developed world.

O3b Networks was founded by entrepreneur Greg Wyler, who recently helped pioneer the first commercial 3G mobile and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in Africa, along with O3b Networks Chairman John W. Dick. The company is committed to connecting the networks of developed countries with the “other three billion” people who have limited internet access, hence the name O3b.

“Access to the internet backbone is still severely limited in emerging markets,” Wyler said. “Only when emerging markets achieve affordable and ubiquitous access to the rest of the world will we observe locally generated content, widespread e-learning, telemedicine and many more enablers to social and economic growth which reflect the true value of the internet.

“O3b Networks will bring multi-gigabit internet speeds directly to the emerging markets, whether landlocked in Africa or isolated by water in the Pacific Islands.”

With its system deployment scheduled for late 2010, O3b Networks’ operational and technical development is well underway. Production of the initial constellation of 16 satellites has begun – and once complete, the system’s 2,300 transponder equivalents will deliver low-latency internet backhaul at speeds reaching 10 gigabits per second.

For more information, visit: www.o3bnetworks.com ^[1]