Level 3 Communications (News - Alert) will provide a North American satellite gateway for O3b Networks, a global satellite provider putting up a network of Ka-band satellites to deliver broadband across the world. Is there a hint of Google (News - Alert) involved in the deal?

In the deal, Level 3 is providing transport services via satellite gateway, allowing O3b to link its Ku-band gigabit IP satellite network to customers located in the U.S., Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico region. To keep latency down across its network, O3b needs local gateways into high-speed networks.

O3b -- short for "Other Three Billion" -- launched its first four Ka-band satellites in June of this year. Another four are scheduled to go up in September, providing coverage in a fat band extending 45 degrees above and below the equator to deliver high speed service in emerging markets where fiber is in short supply. Four more satellites will be launched in 2014, with plans to put up a total of 24 satellites over the next two years.

The satellites orbit the earth at around 8,000 kilometers, keeping round trip latency for data and voice communications to around 150 milliseconds -- five times less than a session routed through a stationary geosynchronous satellite.  When the all eight satellites are up, a total of 80 Gbps of bandwidth will be available, with 10 beams per region and each beam (broadcast link) able to provide up to 1.2 Gbps per beam. 

O3b is offering trunks at speeds between 100 Mbps up to 1 Gbps to phone companies, enterprises, and government agencies, with Royal Caribbean Cruises signing a deal to put Ob3 service on two cruise ships.  Other announced customers include American Samoa Telecommunications Authority, Democratic Republic of Congo, Digicell (News - Alert) (Papua New Guinea), Glocall (Somalia), Interactive Esolutions (Pakistan), Maju Nusa (Malaysia), RCS-Communications (Southern Sudan), Telecom Cook Islands and West Africa Telecom.

What's the Google connection? The Goog invested money in O3B back in 2010. Last week, Google and Level 3 were selected by Starbucks to upgrade Wi-Fi and broadband speeds in its 7,000 U.S. coffee shops. At this pace, Level 3 is at the very least Google's preferred telecommunications carrier; at best, Google's phone company.

The longer term question is just how much revenue Level 3 can gain from a growing relationship with Google. After all, Google is starting to spread out a national footprint of sorts via the Starbucks Wi-Fi deal and is putting fiber into homes in at least three cities. Level 3 has a market cap of about $4.85 billion as of mid-day trading on August 6. Google could buy Level 3 out of petty cash with its estimated $48 billion of reserve money.