Orange has expanded its global enterprise offer with satellite LEO connectivity for remote services and mobile backhaul via a deal with France-based Eutelsat Group.
In sum – what to know:
- Global coverage – by integrating Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO satellites with its terrestrial network and roaming, Orange is promising wider-coverage and better resiliency.
- Sovereign security – mention of “sovereign services” says Orange is also responding to geopolitical and regulatory concerns about data and infrastructure control.
- Digital inclusion – as well as its enterprise / government focus, the move supports Orange’s goal of ensuring access to digital services even in hard-to-reach areas.
Orange has signed a “multi-year” deal with Eutelsat Group to offer low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications via the French satellite operator’s OneWeb constellation to its enterprise and government customers, as well as for mobile backhaul services, especially in remote or underserved regions around the world. Orange said it will be able to provide “high throughput, low latency, resilient and sovereign services”.
It further establishes non-terrestrial (NTN) connectivity via LEO and geostationary (GEO) satellites as a complementary component of the terrestrial-global telecoms offer. Eutelsat operates a fleet of GEO satellites and – since its 2023 merger with OneWeb, headquartered in London –also manages a growing constellation of LEO satellites, and resells hybrid GEO/LEO connectivity for both wide-area coverage and low-latency services.
Orange said it will be able to deliver “seamless continuity of service and enhanced security” as part of a “digital inclusion approach for businesses… to access critical services”. The two know each other well. Orange is the exclusive reseller of KONNECT VHTS capacity for consumer broadband in France, since 2020, and signed a deal earlier this year for capacity on the Eutelsat KONNECT satellite for coverage in the Middle East and Africa.
Jean Louis Le Roux, executive vice president of Orange’s international networks division, said: “It is of strategic importance for Orange to invest in the unique LEO European solution that provides best in class, resilient, tailored and sovereign digital connectivity services to serve our customers wherever they are located. The partnership with Eutelsat for OneWeb services is of vital importance to support their digital transformation.”
Cyril Dujardin, president of Eutelsat’s connectivity business unit, said: “Eutelsat is delighted to further reinforce its relationship with Orange and looks forward to supporting its ambitious project to provide premium, ubiquitous connectivity to its customers. LEO-enabled services are becoming an integral technology for global telco operators. We are delighted to have been selected by Orange to enhance its service to its enterprise customers.”
In May, Eutelsat appointed ex-Orange CEO Jean-François Fallacher as its new chief executive. The move represented a “strategic pivot” for the French satellite operator, writes Catherine Sbeglia-Nin, as it deepens its integration into the broader telecom ecosystem. Fallacher most recently served as executive vice president and CEO of Orange France, and has included stints with Orange in Spain, Romania and Poland.
For mobile operators, seeking to bolster and monetize their new 5G SA services, NTN connectivity is a strategic bolt-on to their core infrastructure propositions. It affords a way, potrentially, to shore-up their promises to critical enterprises about reliable global connectivity – which is genuinely available everywhere. But, like every other strategic option availabkle to them, it is also a gamble, with unclear returns.
Dave Bolan at Dell’Oro Group suggested to RCR Wireless recently that a “digestion period” has set in for ther global mobile industry, as it seeks to advance old first-step 5G NSA investments into new final-stage 5G SA rollout projects. The market at large is assessing which Release 18-level 5G SA features to back – in order to make their money back. The calculation is about how / why / when to launch things like NTN services for back-woods and high-seas dead-zones, as well as RedCap services for mid-range cellular IoT cases, and whatever kinds of juiced-up AI and ML applications to go on top.
“These are now seen as the latest efforts for operators to figure out how to monetize their investments in 5G,” says Bolan.
