In a bid to take advantage of the growing African mobile market, two multinational groups will provide cheaper bandwidth satellite solutions for operators seeking to connect remote locations that lack adequate telecommunications infrastructure.
South African ICT group Spescom and multinational company Gilat Satellite Networks have concluded a strategic alliance to deliver very small aperture terminal (VSAT) solutions in SA and the other parts of the African continent.
The deal positions both groups to take advantage of the significant growth potential of the VSAT two-way satellite-based communications market in the African region, into which they plan to deliver the latest technology.
GM of Gilat SA Wayne McDonald says wireless technology is the quickest way to break into this market, especially on the back of the mobile telecommunications expansion on the continent.
"We see a big future in SA and in the region," McDonald comments. He adds that a key advantage of the Gilat-Spescom alliance is that the satellite footprint covers all of sub-Saharan Africa, where VSAT connections are especially valuable in remote sites. In most cases, normal telecommunications infrastructure is limited or non-existent in these areas.
GSM services
McDonald explains that demand for GSM services is increasingly motivating mobile operators to extend wireless services to small, isolated and remote communities.
He adds that, as the space segment is costly, operators often see the economical viability of connecting the remote areas via satellite as an obstacle. However, he says, Gilat's satellite solution reduces the operational costs incurred by operators by up to 50%, by reducing satellite bandwidth leasing costs.
McDonald says Gilat's Sky-Abis solution transparently connects multiple base transceiver station (BTS) sites to one base station controller (BSC) via satellite, without changing the interface at either end. On the transmission channel, Sky-Abis intervenes and converts the BTS signals to BSC packets, which can be statistically multiplexed and, therefore, are suited for bandwidth reduction compared to original Abis signals.
After analysing all speech packets, Sky-Abis discards idle and "silence indication" frames, only transmitting actual information-carrying packets over the satellite, reducing the need for bandwidth.
New opportunities
Historically, McDonald says, Telkom has been Gilat's biggest customer for VSAT, but new opportunities are also expected with recent licence approvals for Sentech and SA's second national operator.
Spescom sales director Mark Goosen says the partnership with Gilat ideally suits Spescom's historical southern African focus.
Goosen states that the partnership will continue to work with Telkom and expects the expansion of the market to prompt involvement from other South African groups and African countries as well.
He adds that VSAT technology can answer the needs of remotely-located corporate and public-sector customers in industries as diverse as mining, telecommunications, healthcare and education.
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