06 March 2019

Three African telecoms companies have chosen US firm Hughes Network Systems to power delivery of satellite broadband services.  

Botswana Telecommunications, Satcom Networks Africa (SatCoNet) and an undisclosed East African firm have all signed up to the Hughes JUPITER system. 

The former is using the system to expand its high-speed business broadband service in Botswana, with the first phase of deployment to include hundreds of remote terminals connecting businesses and homes.

SatCoNet, based in Tanzania, selected JUPITER to improve its service offering for the market with better throughput.  

The unnamed East African player, said to be one of the largest in the region, will use JUPITER for video and broadband in schools.  

Hughes regional director, Dharmendra Singh said Africa is a key market for the company and it has tripled its sales and engineering support across the continent to reflect that. 

“Our JUPITER system enables service providers to improve their offerings and deliver a wide range of applications supporting economic and social development across Africa – helping close the digital divide, which is our global mission.” 

The Hughes JUPITER System is a popular choice because it is designed to support a wide range of applications across all market sectors, from consumer to enterprise, government and mobility.

The most widely deployed satellite broadband platform (VSAT) around the world currently serves in excess of 1.3 million subscribers in the Americas alone and has been deployed by operators on both conventional and High-Throughput Satellites (HTSs). 

Its in-built DVB-S2X technology allows the system to deliver more than 200 Mbps of TCP throughput per terminal.

For cellular backhaul applications, it includes 4G/LTE optimization capability that can produce 30 to 60 per cent bandwidth savings versus that of conventional backhaul solutions.