Optimal Satcom and O3b Networks announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership agreement whereby Optimal Satcom will provide enterprise capacity management systems to O3b and its customers. As part of this agreement, Optimal Satcom will enhance its Enterprise Capacity Manager (ECM) product to model the O3b constellation of high throughput Ka-band satellites in medium-earth orbit (MEO).

Because the O3B satellites will operate nearer to the Earth than GEO satellites (approx 8,000 km vs. 36,000 km), the time it takes for signals to travel to the satellite and back (latency) will be significantly reduced. This low latency will allow O3b to be used by applications previously not well supported by satellite, such as telcos, ISPs and mobile/wireless network operators.

At the same time, traditional satellite operators will be able to leverage the unique value proposition of the O3b network to augment their service offerings. O3B plans to launch its first eight (8) Ka-band satellites in the first half of 2013. It will launch another four (4) spacecraft by the end of 2014, providing global broadband coverage to emerging markets in an area between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south latitude.

As part of this project Optimal Satcom will provide O3b with an enterprise capacity management system for its internal use, integrate it with O3b's other operational and business systems, and provide associated training and support services. In parallel, Optimal Satcom will develop an enhanced set of tools for use by O3b's customers, including a special ECM O3b module for service providers. Both systems are expected to be ready well before O3b commences commercial operation in 2013.

"The O3b system is one of the most innovative satellite systems to enter the communications satellite arena. Its MEO configuration with low latency and the ability to seamlessly add additional capacity by deploying additional satellites are distinct advantages, but its greatest strength and ultimately, the real key to its success may be that it can be made to fit quite well into the traditional proven business models for GEO satellite capacity." said Ahsun Murad, President and CEO of Optimal Satcom.

"ECM is a mature commercial product designed for use by satellite operators and major satellite service providers around the world to manage their satellite capacity, and O3b will now be able to deploy this state-of-the art enterprise capacity management system for managing its O3b fleet."

"Our challenge is to enhance ECM to model the O3b network in such a way that all the computational complexities of planning and managing a dynamic non-GEO system are under the hood, and users are presented with a familiar interface where they can continue to plan and manage their O3b capacity in essentially the same way that they would work with conventional GEO system," said Ms. Rebecca Fahrmeier, CTO and Co-founder of Optimal Satcom.

"Our significant base of ECM users will find comfort knowing that all their business processes - lease management, carrier planning and lifecycle management, link budget computations, interfacing with carrier monitoring and other business and operational systems, cost and revenue tracking, computation of KPIs, etc. - will continue to work in the same way for O3b capacity as they do for their conventional GEO capacity," she added.

"The Optimal Satcom Enterprise Capacity Manager (ECM) suite of software will be a key integrated element allowing O3b and our customers and business partners to seamlessly plan, analyse and manage the delivery of services through the O3b constellation," said Mr. David Price, Vice President of Sales Engineering and Customer Fulfillment for O3b Networks.

"We are delighted to add Optimal Satcom to the list of industry-leading business partners supporting us to build, deliver and manage our next-generation satellite network. With ECM we have chosen a proven platform which many of the world's largest satellite service providers, including some O3b contracted customers, already use to manage their satellite services.

"This makes it easy for them to migrate to and enhance their services using the O3b satellite network without changing their operational management tools and associated business processes."