Page 47 - SAMENA Trends - July-September 2024

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Road summit in Hong Kong, GalaxySpace and PCCW Global will
collaborate to deliver LEO satellite connectivity to consumers,
enterprises and government customers. The enterprise segment
potentially includes mobile operators looking to expand their cov-
erage in remote areas. GalaxySpace co-founder and VP Isabel
Liu said that while the collaboration will initially focus on Hong
Kong, “[we] will continue to expand our services and partnerships
in Belt and Road countries.” Over 145 countries have signed MoUs
joining China’s Belt and Road initiative, most of them developing
markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Latin
America & Caribbean, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia,
among others. The deal gives GalaxySpace access to PCCW Glob-
al’s international network that connects more than 3,000 cities
across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pa-
cific. In turn, PCCW Global gets to add LEO satellite connectivity to
its portfolio, said PCCW Global’s co-CEO Frederick Chui. “This col-
laboration combines fixed network and next-generation satellite Satellite Technology (SSST) plans to build its G60 Starlink con-
technologies to deliver more flexible connectivity solutions,” he stellation of 15,000 LEO satellites by 2030, although the launch of
said in a statement. “By integrating GalaxySpace’s cutting-edge its first batch of satellites last month reportedly ended badly when
LEO satellite technologies with our platforms, we are enhancing the Long March 6A carrying the payload broke apart. Meanwhile,
our capabilities to support new applications, which require high state-owned China Satellite Network Group has been planning to
speed, low latency and ubiquitous satellite connectivity.” “Look- build a constellation of 13,000 LEO satellites under the “Guowang”
ing ahead, we are accelerating direct-to-sell satellite research and project since 2021, although no satellites for Guowang have been
technical verification,” Liu said in a statement. GalaxySpace is one launched yet. According to the Carnegie Endowment for Interna-
of several emerging contenders from China in the LEO satellite tional Peace, China’s race to catch up with Starlink and similar
gold rush. Geespace – a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Geely – services appears to be motivated in part by the potential military
plans to deploy 72 LEO satellites by 2025 for the first phase of its advantages of owning its own LEO networks, and partly by its po-
constellation, and currently has 30 in orbit. Shanghai Spacecom tential as a tool for geopolitical influence.

Salam Taps Oracle for Managed Services

Salam, a leading Saudi telecom provider, has awarded Oracle operational excellence and enhance the experience it provides
a managed services agreement to support its ongoing digital customers. These efforts will also further Salam’s contributions
transformation. The collaboration will help Salam expedite to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 mission, which includes making
Saudi Arabia a more connected and digitized nation. Oracle
Communications Consulting will provide critical support and
guidance for managed IT operations, performance management,
and service quality improvement. Using an Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)-focused approach, Oracle will
help Salam increase operational efficiencies, proactively identify
and address potential issues, and enable seamless service
delivery to its end customers. Salam recently implemented
components of Oracle Cloud Scale Monetization and Oracle
Unified Operations, plus Oracle Sales CRM, to replace its legacy
systems with a modular pre-integrated stack. This integration
helps avoid the costly and time-consuming process of complex
integrations with a high level of customization. With Oracle,
Salam can launch, orchestrate, and monetize new offerings
as the market demands. Future phases will take advantage of
other Oracle Communications solutions to fast-track new digital
services, such as 5G-enabled streaming, AR/VR gaming, and IoT-
connected devices.

47 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2024