Gilat CEO Erez Antebi hailed the partnership in a Feb. 14 announcement, calling it an exciting opportunity to advance his company’s strategic investment in Ka-band technology. “Gilat and O3b are jointly paving the way to the commercialization of the Ka-band as a strong alternative for fiber technology, predominantly in underserved regions. We are proud to be part of this important alliance.”

   Gilat will develop its solution for O3b based on its existing SkyEdge 2 platform, which includes support for Ka-band and a unified system for SCPC and MF-TDMA on the same terminal. O3b, which stands for “the other 3 billion,” is developing a new high-speed, low-latency satellite-based service for telecommunication operators and enterprises in emerging markets.

   O3b Networks CEO Steve Collar said the agreement with Gilat ensures the availability of a hub, terminal and network management systems for use on the fleet upon launch in mid-2013 and that pre-launch terminal orders are being accepted.

   “Gilat’s leadership in Ka-band satellite technology, coupled with their experience in the cellular backhaul and enterprise markets makes Gilat a great partner for O3b,” said Collar. “Gilat’s unique solution will allow our customers the flexibility to operate both SCPC and TDMA from the same hub, VSATs and network management system – an important feature for today’s service providers looking for flexibility and efficiency in their networks.”

   Gilat will customize its SkyEdge 2 solution for cellular backhaul and high-end enterprise VSAT solutions on the O3b network, supporting upload and download data rates of over 20 Mbps. Gilat said it would also be offering O3b customers deployment and turnkey ground terminal solutions based on third party equipment. 

   Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.