Astranis CCO Doug Abts, left, joined by MB Group’s Mahfoodh AlShaikh, speaking by video link from Oman. Photo: Brooke Bryand Creative for Access Intelligence

The war in the Middle East underlines the value proposition of sovereign satellite communications, partners of a recent satellite deal between Astranis and MB Group said Monday during SATShow Week. 

“What we’re seeing as a result of these dramatic shifts in global stability and global security is this growing need for sovereignty,” said Doug Abts, chief commercial officer of Astranis. 

The company inked a $200 million deal in January with MB Group, an Omani conglomerate that’s diversified from its oil and gas service roots and operates in 22 countries around the globe. 

Astranis offers customer-managed, software-defined services from dedicated GEO satellites. “Our model boils down to control,” said Abts, “control of the data, and over time, constantly owning the outcome on the ground, rather than owning and operating the steel and titanium in space.”

“The other element is time to market,” he said, noting that the satellite for MB Group is set to launch this year. 

That ability to respond to demand at speed had become more valuable as a result of the deteriorating security situation, said MB Group’s Mahfoodh AlShaikh, speaking by video link from Oman. “With all the drama around us and the demand around us, from different agencies or end users, I think it’s very expensive to wait,” he said.

For MB Group, with operations in 22 countries “the need for stable, secured, closed connectivity is one of the very vital tools for our day to day operations,” said AlShaikh.

But they shared that need with others in Oman and in the region, and AlShaikh sketched out a future in which MB Group might broker its sovereign communications to other corporations and government agencies with a similar need for security and control over their communications.  

“It’s not only oil and gas,” he said of the use cases for the satellite. “It will serve the telecommunication companies in the country. It will serve the educational sector. It will serve the government agencies abroad.”

Since the signing ceremony with Astranis, AlShaikh said, MB had met with potential customers regarding applications varying from in-flight connectivity to cellular backhaul.

“We have started seeing a very serious attraction, frankly speaking, from our government or private sectors,” he said.

The MB Group satellite will offer coverage to as many as 15 countries all over the Middle East. The ground infrastructure is already in place in Oman, and the next teleports will be in Saudi Arabia, and then in Iraq “inshallah,” AlShaikh said.