Satcoms major ST Engineering iDirect will provide internet service provider and longtime customer, InterSAT Communication Services FZCO, with a significant technology upgrade, enabling it to deliver enhanced services to its customers across the African continent. The upgrade to its existing Evolution platform will allow InterSAT to leverage new technologies and efficiencies to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging market.
One of the largest and most respected internet solutions providers in Africa, InterSAT serves a portfolio of different verticals, providing essential satellite-based connectivity across the entire African continent to NGOs, SMEs, governments, oil and gas companies and the broadcast sector. The company is focused on offering leading edge connectivity, investing heavily in state-of-the-art technology that makes service delivery better and faster. The upgrade of its ground systems has been a pivotal part of this evolution.
The vibrant African market and the huge user demand for connectivity with excellent quality of service are evident continent-wide as people and businesses increasingly use the internet – from providing mission-critical links in the event of a disaster, to enabling news broadcasts and public service information to remote communities.
The platform enhancements include the upgrade to powerful Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) hub technology with Universal Line Cards (ULC) and high-performance and scalable processing technologies with the Intelligent Gateway (iGateway). These features allow InterSAT to optimise its space segment utilisation and remain competitive in the African market by pursuing new opportunities whilst benefiting from powerful performance and efficiencies driven by DVB-S2X and Adaptive TDMA. The combination of these technologies will place InterSAT at the forefront of efficient delivery of satellite connectivity over existing GEO satellites and new HTS satellites coming to market.
InterSAT has partnered with antenna manufacturer and ST Engineering iDirect partner Kymeta, and will start to deliver mobile connectivity services to the rail and maritime sectors to connect users on the move. The company is also breaking into the Outside Broadcast (OB) market, offering contribution links to media houses and has kitted out its own OB demonstration truck.
“We have utilised ST Engineering iDirect technology for the last 15 years, since the inception of the company,” said Subrata Roy, CTO at InterSAT. “We have continued to upgrade the system as the technology evolves. We like the intuitive interface of the Evolution platform. It’s very easy to operate, and the technology enables us to get the very most out of the available capacity, making us more efficient, flexible and cost-effective for our customers.”
“Through this upgrade, we will be able to deliver on our commitment to serve our customers to the best of our ability and provide the services that they require today and going forward with a futureproof platform. There are a lot of exciting opportunities on the horizon and this upgrade will help us to take advantage of these,” said Hanif Kassam, CEO at InterSAT.
“InterSAT is a longtime customer of ST Engineering iDirect and we are delighted that they are undertaking this hub technology upgrade with us,” said Pieter Paul Mooijman, Regional Vice President, Africa at ST Engineering iDirect. “We remain committed to supporting InterSAT, providing the technology and behind-the-scenes know-how that will underpin their existing and emerging solutions.”
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