The developer of secure cryptographic communications products, Trispen Technologies, is providing a secure virtual private network (VPN) solution certified for use by WildBlue Enterprise Solutions in the US.
Trispen says the solution allows for accelerated communications and optimised bandwidth over satellite, and has been developed in partnership with XipLink, of Montreal, Canada.
"This is a wonderful example of international collaboration and an exciting new market area for us," says Trispen Technologies CEO Jaco Botha.
The company has worked closely with XipLink to develop this solution that it says overcomes satellite connectivity`s main shortcoming - slow latency, says Botha.
He adds that the secure optimised satellite service optimises and compresses data to and from the satellite link to significantly improve data throughput (and reduce costs when being charged on a per megabyte basis).
This technology is also available from Trispen in SA, as an option on its IP-Granite product. Says Thomas Muller, product manager of IP-Granite: "We packaged our technology into an easy to deploy family of appliances more suited to a commodity enterprise market, which is quite different to our South African satellite market."
According to him, the adoption of broadband satellite in the US has been phenomenal - WildBlue now delivers to more than 250 000 broadband-over-satellite customers.
"One of the main benefits of satellite is that it offers service to outlying areas where traditional land-based infrastructure is unavailable or technologically obsolete. However, to drive adoption, these remote areas need to be serviced at a reasonable cost, and satellite needs to be price-competitive compared to other available technologies, such as ADSL."
He adds that due to adoption of broadband satellite in large numbers in America, the cost has been driven down - even for isolated businesses in remote and rural areas. "By using the secure VPN over satellite technology, businesses can now reap the cost benefits of commoditisation with full security."
Muller says the African continent, including SA, seems to be trailing on the commoditisation curve. He cites a key driver to the commodisation of a satellite solution, like that of WildBlue, as being the pricing model. Locally, satellite connectivity is charged by the amount of data transferred, resulting in an order of magnitude being more expensive per megabyte than other connectivity options, such as broadband and ADSL.
Botha says Trispen Technologies is looking at partnerships with service providers and satellite vendors locally.
"However, the satellite connectivity market has yet to take off like it has in the States. Until such time as it does, the very same satellite optimisation software is available here through our VARs, but only as an 'add-on` to an existing satellite subscription."
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