Orange and OneWeb sign agreement to enhance and expand global connectivity

• This partnership with OneWeb will improve and expand Orange’s overall connectivity, particularly in rural and remote areas across Europe, Latin America and Africa
• OneWeb’s LEO technology will complement Orange’s market leading position for backhauling in hard-to-reach regions such as Africa
• This integration will also enhance Orange Business offering with high broadband, resilient and low latency solutions, benefiting small, medium and large enterprises.

OneWeb, the low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, and Orange S.A. (Orange), one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, today announce they have signed a distribution agreement to expand connectivity services across Europe, Africa, Latin America, and other global regions. The news comes as governments across the world prioritise the development of digital infrastructure networks post-COVID.

With this partnership, Orange will offer enriched connectivity, integrating OneWeb’s LEO technology, to  enterprise customers and telco operators in different regions of the world. OneWeb’s LEO technology will therefore complement existing services and enable connection to hard-to-reach areas which previously could not be served with an enhanced latency. The high-quality, low latency end-user service experience provided by OneWeb services will increase user satisfaction, and enable new applications and OTT services.

Other benefits to this partnership also include increased resiliency, and geographical reach for enterprise solutions and backhauling in remote locations across Europe, Latin America, Africa and beyond. With OneWeb’s technology Orange offers a range of multi-orbital solutions complementing our forty years of experience in satellite connectivity to benefit small, medium and large enterprises, telco operators, and Internet Service Providers.

Neil Masterson, OneWeb Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This is an exciting partnership that will help improve and expand connectivity globally. Orange’s market-leading position across several continents, coupled with OneWeb’s unique network and LEO technology, will help bridge digital divides and ensure access to efficient, high-quality, and reliable broadband internet is available to customers in Europe, Latin America, Africa and other locations across the world.”

Jean-Louis Le Roux, Executive Vice President, of Orange International Networks Infrastructures & Services, explained: “At Orange, we believe that satellite  is a promising and complementary technology showcasing many recent innovations that will benefit enterprises all around the word and will accelerate the digital inclusion of populations within our subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East. We are therefore delighted to partner with OneWeb as it will allow us to continue deploying high quality networks in all underserved parts of the world”.

Anne-Marie Thiollet, Deputy Executive Vice President Products and Marketing, Orange Business, says: “Our customers ranging from multi-nationals, enterprises, governments to NGOs will have access to OneWeb’s pioneering satellite network. This high speed and low latency solution will efficiently complement Orange Business’s existing portfolio to keep connecting our customers to their applications anytime, anywhere, with the right quality of service to meet their business requirements”.