Page 80 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023
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ARTICLE  SAMENA TRENDS


                                                       ARTICLE



        Connectivity Outlook in 2024: Soaring Bandwidth

        Consumption Expected in the Middle East





                                             In  the  four years  prior to June  2023,   move  to the  cloud, SES joined  forces
                                             bandwidth consumption in the Middle East   with  Microsoft  Azure  in  2020  to  provide
                                             grew at a compound average growth rate   a managed  service, enabling  operators
                                             (CAGR) of just over 30%. Three big drivers   and enterprises to process data and scale
                                             fuelling this growth are: 5G, cloud migration   operations directly in the cloud.
                                             and the increasing demand of customers on
                                             the move.  Many of the applications being   In the UAE, e& is hosting an O3b mPOWER
                                             used are latency sensitive. Historically, this   and Microsoft ground station  at  Ras  Al
                                             sensitivity  has  limited  the  ways in  which   Khaimah to facilitate a one-hop connection
                                             satellite could help.               to  Microsoft’s  Azure  cloud  from  remote
                                                                                 sites, enabling companies in the region to
                                             This is no longer the case. With the launch   accelerate digitisation plans.
                                             of O3b and O3b mPOWER satellites oper-
                                             ating in medium earth orbit (MEO) by SES,   SES  is  well-positioned
                                             Luxembourg-headquartered  provider  of
                                             satellite  services  for enterprises,  broad-  to serve the  Middle  East
                                             casters and governments, satellite is capa-  thanks  to the  ubiquitous
                                             ble to serve even the most latency sensitive
                                             applications.  Equally  important,  given  the   connectivity  delivered  by
        Imran Malik                          ever-increasing bandwidth consumption, is   its unique multi-orbit fleet
        SVP, Enterprise & Cloud, EMEA        the high capacity offered by O3b mPOWER,   of MEO and Geostationary
        & APAC                               coming into service in 2024.           (GEO) constellations.
        SES                                  5G

                                             Led by the Gulf countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia   Mobility
                                             and Qatar), 5G rollout has accelerated in the   The days when being on a flight or cruise
                                             Middle  East.  Earlier  this  year,  SES and  du   meant disconnecting  from  work  and
                                             (Emirates  Integrated  Telecommunications   entertainment are long gone.  Passengers
                                             Company) demonstrated  5G  backhaul  via   expect  the  same connectivity  when
                                             SES’s O3b constellation.  This proved that   traveling  as  they  get  in  the  office  or  at
                                             O3b can extend du’s 5G coverage to remote   home. But it’s not just passengers; always-
                                             and offshore locations. With O3b mPOWER,   on connectivity  is  also  a must for  aero,
                                             du will be able to serve enterprise customers   cruise  and  maritime  operators  to  bring
                                             like offshore oil and gas platforms.  efficiencies  in  their  fleet  operations.
                                                                                 Connectivity  allows these  operators to
                                             Cloud                               optimise their business operations in real-
                                             As the  amount of data  handled  by   time. SES is  already a leader  in providing
                                             enterprises  and  governments  increases,   connectivity to the cruise industry.
                                             many of them  are  migrating  that  data  to
                                             the  Cloud.  Gartner  predicts  that  by  2027   SES is well-positioned to serve the Middle
                                             over  70%  of  enterprises  will  use  industry   East thanks to the ubiquitous connectivity
                                             cloud platforms (up from 15% this year) to   delivered   by   its   unique   multi-orbit
                                             handle and accelerate business initiatives.    fleet  of  MEO  and  Geostationary  (GEO)
                                             The  Middle  East is  no exception to this   constellations.  Additionally,  the  strategic
                                             migration.  PwC  found 85%  of Middle   local partnerships  fostered  by SES in  the
                                             Eastern companies surveyed have already   region  and  a  consistent  strong  financial
                                             implemented  cloud platforms in  at  least   performance mean SES can easily elevate
                                             one  area of operation.  Anticipating  this   the level of connectivity services.

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