SES and du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), have successfully demonstrated the first satellite-enabled 5G backhaul in the Middle East utilising SES's Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, the two companies announced . The aim of the live demonstration was to demonstrate how SES's current O3b constellation could extend 5G coverage to remote locations and support du's enterprise customers including offshore energy sites with highly reliable, high throughput and low latency network connectivity. The live Proof of Concept (POC) saw numerous tests conducted over an SES's O3b satellite, including voice and data scenarios to measure quality of service performance and stress test load capacity.

The low latency and high throughput 5G backhaul link showed O3b is an ideal solution for 5G satellite-enabled networks with Quality of Experience (QoE) at par with terrestrial backhauling technologies. SES has already started deploying O3b mPOWER technology which will enable high-performance services with superior throughput, predictable low latency, and unmatched flexibility to meet traffic demand. The start of service for O3b mPOWER expected in 2023 will enable du and its customers to experience secure, carrier-grade performance supporting business-critical, cloud-based applications over the public internet or via a dedicated, private connection.