[SatNews] O3b Networks will launch its latest four satellites from the Space Center in French Guiana on December 18, 2014, in the afternoon, via an Arianespace Soyuz launch vehicle.

An artistic rendition of O3b Networks' satellite constellation.

These satellites will be the latest addition to a network designed to connect the “other 3 billion” (hence the name O3b) people on earth who have historically lacked proper access to the internet, connecting, enabling and transforming parts of the world that are currently unconnected or underserved. Once launched, the satellites will go through a period of in-orbit testing before being fully integrated into the O3b network. In the meantime, the company continues to bring customers up across the world.
 
The O3b business model focuses on three key deliverables: high capacity, fiber-like latency, and bandwidth that is significantly lower in cost. O3b’s satellites use multiple spot beams, which significantly increase each satellite’s capacity and decrease the cost per Megabit of bandwidth.
 
O3b’s vast coverage area includes emerging and insufficiently connected markets in Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. O3b's satellites orbit at 8,062km above the earth, an altitude known as Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). From this low altitude, latency is dramatically reduced, bringing it on par with a long haul fiber transmission. Operators can now consider satellite technology for applications that are latency sensitive such as cloud apps, streaming HD video or multi-player gaming.
 
For more information visit: http://www.o3bnetworks.com/