SiriCOMM, a nationwide broadband wireless software and network infrastructure solutions company for the commercial transportation industry and government market, last Wednesday announced a five-year VSAT services agreement with ViaSat, Inc. of Norcross, Georgia. Under the agreement, ViaSat will provide hardware, installation and services for the Company’s nationwide network.
SiriCOMM chose satellite for wide-area data communications for several reasons. First, the company intends to install its network nationwide, at locations frequented by truck drivers.
These sites typically are in rural areas, which complicates the use of land-based solutions.
Second, satellite communications provide a wide-area network solution with fewer points of contact. Traditional land-based solutions, such as T-1 data lines, require many different local providers to be utilized, potentially a different one for each node. Satellite involves only one point of contact for all nodes. And, finally, satellite provides greater flexibility in bandwidth shaping and allocation.
After evaluating options on the market, the Company selected ViaSat and its LinkStar hub-based VSAT system. LinkStar enables broadband transmission of IP-based data between SiriCOMM’s remote servers installed at each node and its Hub server.
LinkStar was designed for applications requiring high volumes of out-bound data to be transferred in a timely and highly secure manner. As a result, the system provides substantially greater bandwidth-to-cost ratios when compared to other options.
“We decided early on that satellite was the optimal data communications method for our network,” said Kory Dillman, SiriCOMM executive vice president and CIO. “ViaSat’s LinkStar product features advanced technologies backed with a strong track record in supporting multiple node networks. With this agreement in place, we are starting installation of SiriCOMM’s nationwide network.”
ViaSat is presently installing LinkStar VSAT systems for SiriCOMM at the 255 Pilot Travel Centers throughout the United States. As previously announced, Pilot Travel Centers and SiriCOMM have entered into a strategic partnership to deliver value-based services to benefit their mutual customer base.
SiriCOMM
