LONDON, 11 March, 2016 - On the same night that O3b Networks was named “Satellite Operator of the Year” at the Via Satellite Excellence Awards in Washington, DC, the company was also celebrating on this side of the Atlantic after being named “European Telecoms Deal of the Year” at the Infrastructure Journal (IJGlobal) Awards in London.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised O3b Networks in connection with its US$1.7 billion financing of a constellation of satellites to support fast broadband connections.

Milbank’s cross-practice transatlantic team played a central role in what was an ambitious financing, advising O3b Networks on all aspects throughout the interlinked elements of the transaction, a process lasting over 5 years.

John Dewar, London Project Finance Partner and the Lead Partner on the transaction said: “We are delighted to have won Deal of the Year for our work advising O3b on such an important “first-of-a-kind” and highly innovative telecommunications project.  We are pleased that O3b has been recognised on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Milbank was also ranked the No.1 Telecoms Legal Advisor for 2015 in the Global Infrastructure Journal 2015 league table.

O3b stands for the “other three billion”, a reference to nearly half of the world’s population that is not adequately served with broadband internet access due to the absence of a backbone of super-fast fibre-optic cable connections in many regions.  Described by the BBC as “one of the most ambitious commercial space projects of the decade”, the system is designed specifically to provide ‘fibre in the sky’ broadband internet access to Africa and other emerging markets.