[Satellite TODAY 11-20-12] Pan-African satellite operator RascomStar and its satellite and mobility communications partner ViaSat successfully conducted a live demonstration of their GSM cellulars service for underserved areas during the AfricaCom 2012 international show, RascomStar announced Nov. 20. 

      "Thanks to a low-power GSM site, visitors could talk to the world through RASCOM-QAF1R satellite (RQ1R) from their common AfricaCom booth," RascomStar said in a company statement. "ViaSat and RascomStar’s wholesale managed service provides both voice and data connectivity to Mobile Operators to address Africa’s underserved communities. AfricaCom was a great opportunity to showcase the performance of this advanced system … RascomStar and ViaSat are making a difference by delivering, for the first time, profitable and sustainable GSM/3G voice, messaging and data services over bandwidth efficient, low-power infrastructure to hitherto unserved areas."

      The RascomStar/ViaSat solution functions as a low-cost turnkey managed service with ground segment incorporating ip.access technology provided by ViaSat and space segment from RascomStar. The partners said they designed the solution to be easily scalable and reduce mobile operator risks while raising its profits.