NTT Ltd has announced a partnership with satellite operator SES to deliver NTT's Edge as a Service to its enterprise customers.

The multi-year partnership has been formed as part of plans to meet connectivity demand that is beyond the capability of fixed terrestrial networks.

It's a collaboration that combines NTT’s fully managed Private 5G and Edge Compute with SES’s new medium earth orbit communications system, known as O3b mPOWER.

According to NTT, the solution is aimed at companies operating in regions where terrestrial networks are lacking and enterprises want to leverage high-performance connectivity to increase their efficiency and grow revenue.

It's anticipated to help boost a range of industries including energy, mining, maritime, manufacturing, and industrial through the use of private 5G networks and satellites.   

“Private 5G is a transformative power that enables enterprises to build upon existing network infrastructure and deliver reliable, high bandwidth, and low latency connections for multiple use cases operating on a single Private 5G network,” said Olivier Posty, country managing director Luxembourg, NTT Ltd.

He added: “As our customers continue to innovate, network partners with the right skills and expertise will be critical to success in today’s competitive market. NTT’s robust Private 5G network-as-a-service full-stack solution, delivered on-premises, at the Edge, or as a cloud service, is complemented by NTT’s 24/7 remote monitoring services and a CIO self-service portal, ensuring that NTT’s full stack of managed Edge Compute services delivers real-time actionable intelligence to drive processing efficiency and accelerate business performance.”

NTT notes that this solution will deliver coverage to over 190 countries with public-private roaming.

The company's fully managed, integrated Edge-as-a-Service offering includes IoT, Edge Compute, and private 5G connectivity delivered by NTT across its global footprint.

On top of its private 5G and Edge Compute capabilities, NTT will also provide use-case consulting and design, application development, system integration, implementation, and managed services.

Meanwhile, SES will provide end-to-end satellite networks via O3b mPOWER satellites integrated with NTT’s offering.

“This partnership between NTT and SES is an industry-first milestone at the whole industry level, combining massive amounts of expertise that both companies are bringing in each field, and the joint value proposition is ahead of the curve in terms of added value that will be provided to customers," said Alejandro Cadenas, associate VP of EMEA telco mobility research, IDC.

"This will open great opportunities also in countries where 5G spectrum is not yet ready, enabling the transformation of companies at a global scale.”

In unrelated news, SES was reported to be locked in merger talks with another satellite operator, Intelsat, last week.