[Satellite TODAY 01-18-12] O3b Networks will launch its new satellite broadband service next year, O3b CEO Steve Collar announced Jan. 17 at a telecom conference in Hawaii.

   “We are one year from the planned launch of its satellite constellation that will provide fiber-comparable broadband services in remote parts of the world,” Collar said in the statement.

   O3b Networks launched in 2008. The company spent the next two years raising $1.18 billion in funding from a variety of investors, including Google. Last month, O3b Networks announced it raised $137 million for the construction of four additional satellites that will aim to double capacity and boost redundancy over its targeted emerging markets, the broadband operator and service provider announced.

   The additional spacecraft will launch in 2014, joining O3b Networks’ initial fleet of eight MEO satellites scheduled to orbit in early 2013.