The funds will be used to increase the number of satellites in O3b’s constellation from 12 to 20 to meet growing demand for higher throughput and high performance connectivity.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for O3b and its customers. Our constellation is highly scalable and can be grown in direct response to market demand. In only a little over a year from our full commercial launch, we can already see the need for substantially more capacity in orbit to serve our customers,” said Steve Collar, CEO of O3b Networks.
“We are the No.1 operator in the Pacific and, together with Royal Caribbean, we have revolutionised the cruise connectivity market. Our telco customers are expanding their service offerings and growing their markets on the back of O3b’s performance and capability,” he added.
The additional satellites will ensure that O3b has sufficient capacity to meet the demand of its energy and government businesses in 2016.
O3b began full commercial operations in September 2014 and to date, has over 40 customers globally. More than 50% of those customers have since upgraded their service commitments in the first year of commercial operations, according to O3b.
