Artist’s rendition of HTS services to Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo: Eutelsat

[Via Satellite 05-10-2016] Eutelsat and Facebook have selected Hughes to supply its Jupiter system as the technology platform for the satellite broadband services that both companies are preparing to launch in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Jupiter System, which Eutelsat purchased, includes three gateway stations, two centralized data centers, a comprehensive network management system and an initial number of user terminals.

Facebook and Eutelsat are assembling a dedicated infrastructure for cost-effective broadband to areas of Sub-Saharan Africa beyond reach of fixed and mobile terrestrial networks. The companies plan to use high-gain Ka-band spot beam capacity on Spacecom’s Amos 6 satellite, which is due to enter service in early 2017.

For Facebook, the system will support its Express Wi-Fi project, intended to expand connectivity to underserved locations by working closely with operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and local entrepreneurs. Eutelsat plans to employ the system as a key platform to drive growth of premium consumer and professional Internet connectivity services in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hughes Jupiter System includes lights-out operation, an enhanced air interface for bandwidth efficiency, and high-throughput terminals, to enable high capacity and efficiency for satellite broadband implementation. The foundational technology is the Jupiter System on a Chip (SoC), a custom-designed Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) processor employing a multi-core architecture and enabling more than 100 Mbps of throughput on every terminal in the Jupiter family.