06 October 2021
Speedcast, the US communications and IT services provider has been selected by Mining Company Katanga (MCK) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a three-year contract to deliver satellite connectivity services to its headquarters and a major mine complex.
Under the terms of the deal, Speedcast will serve MCK’s Lubumbashi headquarters and the Ruashi open-pit copper and cobalt mine, delivering optimized wide-area networking (WAN) over high-throughput, very small aperture terminal (VSAT), C-band satellite connectivity service and content filtering.
The satellite connectivity solution will enable internet access, cloud-based applications, IoT and crew welfare applications across MCK’s operations.
“We are thrilled that MCK has placed its trust in Speedcast to deliver critical, remote connectivity and network optimization to its headquarters and contracted mining site,”James Trevelyan, senior vice president of enterprise and emerging markets at Speedcast said.
Hubert Nkonkosha, IT manager at MCK added: “Our Ruashi project is one of our largest refined copper and cobalt production sites with more than 2,000 people and suppliers employed. It’s vital to our headquarters and operations to have seamless communications and network management as we prioritise efficiency and digital transformation.”
Speedcast recently augmented its Tier 1 satellite network across the sub-Saharan African region with the addition of a new High-Throughput Satellite (HTS), offering ultra-high signal availability – even into 1.8m terminals.
The satellite’s look angle across Africa is around 60 degrees elevation, making it ideal for steep-sided open pit mines and resilient to equatorial weather patterns. It also incorporates the latest VSAT technology and a selection of bandwidth packages, from high-speed to gigabyte-only plans.