Big Asian Contracts for Gilat!
Gilat Gets Major Asia Pacific VSAT Contracts
By David Williams, dwilliams@pbimedia.com
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. [GILTF] of Petah Tikva, Israel, announced
contracts this week to supply VSAT networks in China, India and Australia.
The value of the contracts were not disclosed.
Jingxin Hero Telecommunications Networks Co. Ltd. of Beijing selected
Gilat to provide a 2,000-site Skystar Advantage network for corporations and
small office/home office customers in China.
Jingxin, a subsidiary of Beijing Telecom, plans to offer customers a range of
high-speed, IP-based applications, including Intranet and IP multicasting,
Gilat said.
The Skystar Advantage is Gilat's VSAT system for corporate or other
enterprise networks.
"The Chinese are rapidly embracing the Internet and are becoming Asia's
largest Internet opportunity," said Erez Antebi, Gilat's vice president for Asia,
the Pacific Rim and Africa.
The other contract calls for Gilat to supply a 500-site network based on its
SkyBlaster VSAT system for Bharti Broadband Networks Ltd. of New
Delhi. The SkyBlaster is Gilat's PC-based VSAT service and is designed for
the consumer and small office/home office markets.
Ashok Juneja, chief executive of Bharti Broadband, said VSAT access to the
Internet is particularly attractive to users outside major Indian cities who do
not have any other option for broadband services.
"We expect to eventually make this service available on a large scale in
India," Juneja said. Bharti Broadband is based in New Delhi and is a
subsidiary of the Bharti Group, India's first privately owned telecom service
provider.
Antebi said the Bharti contract is the most recent of "many" VSAT networks it
has supplied to Indian businesses, the largest of which is a 3,000-site
network for the National Stock Exchange of India.
In a third deal, Gilat will supply SkyBlaster VSATs on a wholesale basis to
Cable & Wireless Optus, the largest competitive carrier in Australia. Optus
plans to base its nationwide, business-grade satellite Internet service on the
SkyBlaster, according to Gilat. Optus is the Australian subsidiary of Cable &
Wireless plc [CWP]. |
