Gilat Satellite Networks has announced it has been chosen by service provider Satcom Systems to provide a SkyEdge II broadband satellite network to serve several hundred sites throughout Africa.

The new network, comprising a SkyEdge II hub located in Germany and hundreds of VSATs, will enable Satcom Systems to expand its services in West Africa.

Satcom Systems is launching a new service, "Ku Plus" on Intelsat's IS-14 satellite, using the SkyEdge II platform, and will offer high quality broadband Internet connectivity to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in West Africa. The SkyEdge II network will deliver a wide range of interactive data applications, including VoIP, video conferencing and virtual private networks.

Satcom Systems is a leading service provider to customers operating beyond the reach of traditional telecom networks. For more than a decade, Satcom Systems has deployed VSAT networks from Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. to fulfill a wide range of customer requirements. With products and solutions deployed in over 60 countries worldwide, Satcom Systems provides high quality, cost-effective and efficient communication services to governments, enterprises and consumers wherever they are.

"We determined that SkyEdge II delivers superior space-segment efficiency, while at the same time enabling us to provide a highly effective, dependable solution to our customers," said Daniel Schapiro, VP Sales Africa for Satcom Systems.

"SkyEdge II's low total cost of ownership allows us to broaden our scope to serve new markets, including the fast-growing African SME segment."

Aharon Fuchs, Regional VP Sales, Europe, for Gilat Network Systems, said, "SkyEdge II is well-suited to help Satcom Systems deliver reliable, high-performance Internet services and to meet the complex networking requirements of its enterprise clients. The ability of SkyEdge II to help Satcom Systems serve the needs of both African corporate clients and cyber cafes is the latest example of the broad appeal of our products worldwide."

Gilat's SkyEdge II is a multi-service platform enabling the delivery of high-quality voice, broadband data and video services for diverse environments including enterprises, rural networks, cellular backhaul and government network applications. SkyEdge II is a standards-based system using DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS.

With better efficiencies and full adaptivity for both the inbound and outbound channels, it provides higher performance that serves the growing requirements of end-users.

Gilat's diverse portfolio of SkyEdge II VSATs are all supported by a unified platform, offering service providers the most suitable product for their application needs as well as the flexibility to evolve their networks. The newest addition to Gilat's SkyEdge II portfolio is NetEdgeTM, a dedicated solution for multi star networks, specifically designed to meet the needs of corporations and cellular backhaul applications.