Gilat Satellite Networks` Kenyan partner, Gilat Alldean, has been awarded a licence to become Kenya`s second Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) data networks operator.
Gilat says that by providing this licence, the country`s telecommunications regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya, in effect ends the monopoly of a single VSAT networks operator in Kenya.
Operating under the name "NyoyaSat", Gilat Alldean (Africa) is deploying DialAw@y IP, FaraWay and Skystar 360E hubs, and several networks of each platform throughout the country, providing
private corporate data networks. Gilat Alldean will also offer high-speed data networks to corporations, SME`s, government agencies and NGOs across Africa based on the Skystar 360E, DialAw@y IP and FaraWay platforms.
Erez Antebi, Gilat`s vice-president and general manager for Asia, Africa and the Pacific Rim, said: "We already have many more VSATs installed in Kenya than the operator that functioned alone until now. We hope that this bold move will be followed by other countries in the region."
Antebi added: "The new contracts announced here demonstrate Gilat`s continued expansion of its business in Africa. Thousands of users throughout the continent now have access to Gilat VSAT technology in the enterprise and rural telephony markets, and soon many others will have broadband Internet access as well."
In recent months, Gilat has announced several new VSAT contracts for networks consisting of over 1 000 sites throughout Africa. Among these are Tanzania`s largest IP operator, Satcom Networks Africa, which is installing a Skystar Advantage hub and 100 sites across the country. Ethiopian Telecom Corporation is upgrading existing sites and adding several hundred rural telephony sites across Ethiopia.
In Mozambique, licensed operator Satcom is installing 150 DialAw@y IP sites for corporate networks. The mesh VSAT networks will provide IP and voice for virtual private networks (VPN).
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator TATEM TELECOM is installing an initial order of more than 150 remote DialAw@y IP sites for rural telephony applications throughout the country. And, in Rwanda, Artel Communications is installing a DialAw@y IP network, which includes a hub and an initial order of 100 VSAT terminals to provide customers with telephony and high-speed Internet service.
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