SES Networks’ satellites are being used to provide additional connectivity to Papua New Guinea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, now underway in Port Moresby.

The additional connectivity has been provided with the assistance of the Australian Government, working with the Papua New Guinea Government’s implementing agency, DataCo, and will deliver 6Gbps of high-bandwidth, low latency connectivity.

The service, which will supplement existing capacity into PNG and ensure venues and delegates have access to high-speed internet access throughout the conference, will utilise capacity from SES’ O3b Medium Earth Orbit satellite fleet.

The system will use existing DataCo infrastructure. SES Networks has also created a new core network for DataCo with ‘state-of-the-art’ security to ensure network intrusion detection and prevention.

The core network connects Port Moresby to Sydney and Perth and includes caching to ensure ‘near instant’ access to important content, such as news media and APEC-managed sites.

Two high-capacity connections using diverse O3b ground stations have been added in two Port Moresby suburbs and will be backhauled to gateways in Australia to provide additional connectivity reliability.

Luxemborg-based SES has more than 70 satellites across geostationary orbit and medium earth orbit, including the O3b satellite constellation, providing primarily voice and data comms. O3b stands for ‘other three billion’ in reference to the three billion people for whom broadband internet isn’t available.

DataCo says the O3b satellite high capacity network is the highest satellite service capacity in the country.

The O3b satellite tower and refurbishment of the earth station at Gerehu reportedly cost US$10 million and is being funded by Australia. https://www.thenational.com.pg/cheaper-faster-internet-promised/

Australian minister for foreign affairs, Marise Payne, says the investment is an important part of Australia’s broader internet connectivity support to PNG.

The Coral Sea Cable System, a fibre optic cable connecting Port Moresby and Sydney, is due for completion in late 2019.

Paul Komboi, DataCo managing director, says he hopes to continue the partnership with SES Networks after APEC, to improve internet services across the archipelago and ‘bring PNG closer to the world’.

Last month, when announcing the SES S.A’s latest financials – which saw double digit growth for the SES Networks business – company president and CEO Steve Collar noted the delivery of a major turn-key project to PNG in record time, reinforcing the positive contribution to fixed data.

In announcing the APEC agreement, SES Networks Asia Pacific vice president of fixed data sales, Imran Malik Khan, said it was a ‘tremendous vote of confidence’ in SES by regional governments.