GILAT RECEIVES FIRST ORDERS FOR ITS ""TWO-WAY PAGING"" VSAT BUSINESS EDITORS
[Business Wire 07/15/1998 ]
BW1158 JUL 15,1998 6:26 PACIFIC 9:26 EASTERN
( BW)(GILAT)(GILTF) Gilat Receives First Orders for Its "two-way Paging" VSAT
Business Editors
PETAH TIKVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 1998--Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ:GILTF), reported today that PageNet, one of the largest paging operators in the US, has chosen an enhanced version of Skystar Advantage(TM) to facilitate the communication of Narrowband Personal Communication Services (NPCS), commonly called "two-way paging".
Gilat, the largest supplier of one-way SCPC VSATs to the satellite-based paging market, received the order from GE Capital Spacenet Services, Inc. (GE Spacenet), which will provide VSAT equipment and services to PageNet. Gilat will act as GE Spacenet's representative to the paging market for the companies' jointly-developed "NPCSkystar" VSAT product, which has been tailored to meet the technical requirements of the paging industry.
"Among our first two-way paging orders from GE Spacenet, PageNet's is the largest at almost a thousand sites," offered Gilat President and Chief Operating Officer Amiram Levinberg. "We have developed a unique paging architecture leveraging on our extensive experience in one-way paging, that supports extreme environmental conditions, an upgrade path from one-way to two-way and interface with all major paging base-station equipment."
PageNet Chief Technical Officer Bill Scott added, "Based on our past experience with Gilat's OneWay(TM) equipment, we are confident that the GE Spacenet-Gilat product represents the best available solution for our two-way network."
Gilat pioneered the use of VSATs in paging networks in 1991, when its OneWay VSAT was installed at Hutchison Paging and Mercury Paging in the UK. At the time, paging messages were broadcast from the operators' headquarters to regional base stations via satellite, then redistributed to individual subscribers via radio.
In 1994, the US Federal Communication Commission issued licenses to service providers such as PageNet for a segment of spectrum dedicated to two-way paging. NPCSkystar is intended to serve as a satellite-based infrastructure linking the geographically dispersed base stations in the new NPCS networks. Narrowband services include acknowledged message delivery, the ability to preprogram responses, message initiation from the paging unit, use of the paging device as a wireless modem and transmission of news headlines or stock quotes directly to the pager. PageNet is a wireless information provider serving more than 10.4 million subscribers in the United States, Canada, and Spain through an extensive network of sales and service offices, resellers and affiliates. PageNet offers text and numeric messaging with local, regional and nationwide coverage options. PageNet also provides broadcast and personalized information services, including exclusive CNN news, sports and financial updates.
GE Spacenet is a world leader in providing global communications networks and services. With headquarters in McLean, Virginia, GE Spacenet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GE American Communications, Inc. (GE Americom), a GE Capital Services company. GE Americom, based in Princeton, New Jersey, is a global provider of satellite communications solutions. The company operates 11 satellites serving North America. GE Capital Services, with assets of over US$250 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company with 28 specialized businesses. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital Services, based in Stamford, Connecticut, provides equipment management, mid-market and specialized financing, specialty insurance and a variety of consumer services, such as car leasing, home mortgages and credit cards, to businesses and individuals around the world. GE is a diversified manufacturing, technology and services company with operations worldwide.
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