Connectivity services provider Gilat Telecom has announced significant new enhancements to its Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN MAX), which it claims is particularly relevant for African operators with fibre and satellite networks that are aiming to markedly increase network availability and bandwidth.

According to Gilat Telecom the enhancements centre around the integration of technology from F5 that enables complex traffic management decisions based on client, server, or application status.

Gilat Telecom is also leveraging F5's event-driven scripting language, which it says is key to addressing application delivery challenges across any environment.

The connectivity services company says the integration of F5 makes it even easier to intelligently manage network traffic, including building smart monitors that sample various network components.

“Depending on the samples, it is possible to change the traffic path, save bandwidth, improve performance, and perform bandwidth control. Additional traffic management and bandwidth optimisations are driven by AI and machine-learning algorithms,” reads part of a statement released by Gilat Telecom.

Amir Cohen, CTO of Gilat Telecom added: "Our SD-WAN MAX solution enables MNOs, ISPs and enterprises across Africa to achieve more capacity from less hardware and software. The integration of F5's software is one of a number of improvements we have made in response to suggestions from our customers and partners.”

The enhanced SD-WAN MAX system empowers Gilat Telecom with more scope to specifically address the needs of African MNOs, ISPs and enterprises.

The company asserts that most MNOs and ISPs in Africa use both satellite and fibre networks to maximise coverage creating asymmetric traffic routes with end-customers receiving traffic over satellite and sending over fibre.

“Gilat Telecom's SD-WAN lets service providers and MNOs centrally control the route that both satellite and fibre traffic takes to and from the customer. It ensures different applications - voice, streaming, caching (Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft cloud services etc.) - can be identified with automatic prioritisation, and according to customer requirements. This enables the enterprise to save bandwidth - and money - and gives users faster connectivity,” the company explains.

Collaboration with Spacecom

In August Gilat Telecom announced a partnership with Spacecom , operator of the AMOS satellites fleet, to to develop a faster, more reliable and more cost-effective satellite service for organisations of all sizes across Africa.”

One of the benefits of the alliance is smart traffic management.

The companies explain: “Gilat Telecom’s SD-WAN enables service providers and MNOs to centrally control the route that both satellite and fibre traffic takes to and from the customer. It enables different applications – voice, streaming, caching (Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft cloud services etc.) - to be identified with automatic prioritisation, according to the customer’s needs and demands.”