Launches Satellite Venture: Orange Initiates Nuanua Project in Wallis and Futuna Islands
The Nuanua project, an initiative by Orange in partnership with SES's O3b mPOWER system, is set to significantly improve internet access and digital infrastructure in the Wallis and Futuna Islands. With an anticipated completion in six months, the project aims to provide a reliable, sustainable, and high-performance connectivity solution by the end of the first half of 2025.
The islands, currently served by a single submarine cable, have faced connectivity issues in the past, as seen in 2024 when the Honotua submarine cable was cut, causing a prolonged digital blackout. This incident highlighted the need for a more resilient and flexible digital infrastructure.
The Nuanua project addresses this need by leveraging SES’s O3b mPOWER medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, which offer high speeds ranging from 50 Mbps up to 10 Gbps with low latency. This setup is designed to provide a more stable, faster, and flexible internet connection compared to traditional geostationary satellites or vulnerable submarine cables.
The benefits of the Nuanua project include reduced latency, higher bandwidth and data speeds, and increased network resilience and flexibility. These improvements will support growing digital needs in education, public services, commerce, and social connectivity.
Local leaders view the Nuanua project as an essential upgrade that restores digital citizenship, enabling full participation in the global digital economy and enhancing overall socio-economic wellbeing on the islands.
The project is co-financed by the European Union under the "Connecting Europe Facilities - Digital" programme and reflects Orange's commitment to connecting remote territories and enhancing essential digital services, which encourages economic and social development.
The high-performance system, O3b mPOWER, has the capacity to scale up, ensuring that the islands' digital needs are met as they grow. Solar panels will be installed over an area of 170 m2 to optimize the power supply for the installations and reduce the carbon footprint of the Orange group.
Orange, through its subsidiary Orange Wallis & Futuna, is responsible for operating international networks for the Wallis and Futuna Islands on behalf of the French government. The Nuanua project showcases Orange's expertise in the satellite domain and their ability to provide secure and resilient connectivity solutions.
The Nuanua project, meaning "rainbow" in Wallisian, is a crucial step towards strengthening the digital sovereignty of Wallis and Futuna and demonstrates Orange's commitment to making new investments to develop the digital economy of the territory and meet the growing needs of users.
[1] Source: Orange press release, dated 1st April 2023.
- The Nuanua project, utilizing SES's O3b mPOWER technology, aims to elevate the islands' digital infrastructure by offering a more stable, faster, and flexible space-and-astronomy-based internet connection, thereby improving science and technology integration in education, public services, commerce, and social connectivity.
- The Nuanua project, with its solar-powered O3b mPOWER system, is designed to meet the growing digital needs of Wallis and Futuna Islands, ensuring scalability for future requirements in science, technology, and space-and-astronomy sectors, reducing the carbon footprint and supporting the territory's socio-economic development.
