Primary Offshore Communications Solution Delivers Fiber-like Speed and Latency matching the demands of digital oilfield communications

St John, Jersey, Channel Islands/Houston, Texas – November 5, 2012 – O3b Networks today unveiled O3bEnergy – a new offshore communications solution that delivers high-speed, fiber-like connectivity to offshore installations and seismic survey vessels without the big upfront CAPEX investments, outage concerns, lack of mobility, lengthy ramp up times, and other fiber shortfalls. Oil and gas companies and systems integrators can leverage O3b’s unique high capacity, low latency satellite offering to get far more from their existing enterprise systems and operational budgets.

O3b’s Medium Earth Orbit fleet will enable oil and gas companies to deliver the same level of sophisticated communications capabilities they count on at headquarters aboard their remote off-shore platforms. With sub 150 msec latency and fiber-like speeds, O3bEnergy is designed to improve and elevate the full spectrum of off-shore communications from mission critical applications to greatly enhanced crew morale.

“O3bEnergy allows oil and gas companies to connect offshore operations at fiber speeds and latencies. As a result, they can get the most from their cutting-edge voice, video and data communications systems across their enterprise,” said John Finney, Chief Commercial Officer for O3b Networks. “For the first time, the satellite industry is providing a transport layer that fully enables high-end, latency sensitive enterprise applications in the digital oilfield ensuring real-time data is carried across the network with performance that outstrips all other terrestrial and satellite solutions measured in speed, reliability and cost,” Finney noted.

In addition to off-shore communications, O3bEnergy is also tailored to providing near real-time transmission of seismic vessel survey data with a unique store and forward application that can transfer up to 2 Terabytes of data per day from ship to shore.

Historically, the large volumes of data produced by seismic vessels have been transferred when returning to port or infrequently by helicopter,” said Finney. “All data should travel at the speed of light and for the first time, seismic data can be transferred in real-time from ship to shore through O3bEnergy, an unparalleled solution that delivers high performance, reliability, flexibility and affordability.”

O3b Networks is in the final stages of constructing a global network supporting an initial constellation of eight MEO satellites, which are scheduled for service availability in 3rd Quarter 2013.