Spacecom, Gilat Telecom Roll Out New Satellite Service in Africa

Artist’s rendition of the Amos 17 satellite based on the BSS-702MP bus. Image Credit: Boeing

Israeli satellite companies Spacecom and Gilat Telecom have joined forces to roll out a high-speed, low-cost satellite service for home and office connectivity, video conferences, e-health applications, e-learning, and e-education across Africa.

The service utilizes Spacecom’s AMOS-17 digital High Throughput Satellite (HTS), on both C- and Ku-band.  Gilat Telecom is contributing its SD-WAN MAX technology and intelligent routing. Using these technologies, Gilat Telecom said it could expand Spacecom satellite capacity by up to 20 percent — the equivalent of 6 Mbit/s can be achieved from a 5 Mbit/s downlink, the companies said.

Spacecom said the AMOS-17 satellite enables Cross-Connection between all beam and all bands enabling the use of the existing equipment that can be also set-up remotely by the end customers (on existing or new terminals).

“This partnership enables us to boost the services offered to customers along with fast returns on investments to these growing markets. We are sure this fruitful cooperation will lead us to many great business opportunities in Africa, and invite all to gain great value from this unique collaboration and join us today,” said Ofer Asif, SVP Business Development and Marketing at Spacecom, in a statement.