11 April 2018

Gilat Telecom’s new service for remote users features the compact and lightweight Satcube.

Gilat Telecom (formerly Gilat Satcom) has been granted a license to provide cloud and fixed broadband services across Zambia. 

The operator claims the new license will enable its local subsidiary to meet the rising demand from businesses who are looking for a higher-quality broadband service and a wider range of managed services than currently available from Zambia’s existing operators.

Gilat Telecom Zambia has already opened an office in Lusaka and is now recruiting a local team.

The company is also completing work on its PoP in the capital and expects to start offering services shortly.

According to Gilat, customers will benefit from a range of value-added services such as a high-performance Wi-Fi package that promises to bring fast broadband to offices without the need to lay fibre to the building. 

Among some of the other benefits is a priority-based traffic management system, a cloud PBX service to reduce the cost of all calls, and a data protection service that provides another level of security by storing all of an organisation’s critical data in the cloud.

Gilat says the data is automatically backed-up regardless of where it is stored and is easy to restore.

The firm adds that all of its cloud services are available using a ‘service-as-you-go’ model.

In a separate development, Gilat Telecom has also launched a new remote connectivity service for organisations that work in African areas with little or no network coverage. 

It uses a terminal from Swedish firm Satcube that weighs just 8kg. Gilat says the device can be transported as hand luggage on a plane, and can be setup without any engineering expertise to connect to its global satellite network.

Users then pay a monthly fee for connectivity with a variety of different packages available.

The service provides speeds of up to 20mbps and uses Ku-band.