Satellite and fibre-based connectivity solutions provider Gilat Telecom has confirmed its VSAT services are now available in every country in Africa, amid an increasing demand for broadband connectivity across the continent.

The company has been in operation for 20 years, with a strong base in East Africa. It continues to witness a surge in VSAT adoption, primarily within businesses serving MNOs with cellular backhaul (CBH), financial institutions connecting multiple branches to their headquarters, as well as operators in hospitality and military, and ISPs.

The company says there is a growing need for VSAT services within MNOs with CBH and businesses in the maritime industry, specifically.

As to what is driving demand, executives from Gilat Telecom say rural areas have had little in the way of other connectivity options and generally satellite reliability is much higher than that of fibre, which allows businesses to keep operating without losing customers.

“Backup services and BoD (Bandwidth on Demand) is crucial as well, and many MNOs, financial institutions and ISPs that use VSAT combined with a fibre to ensure a high quality of service,” the company adds.

Gilat Telecom asserts that on many occasions VSAT is less expensive than laying fibre or operating a microwave deployment, both CAPEX and OPEX, without mentioning the multiple sites which require pan-Africa communication, and this may replace a fibre MPLS network.

It says, “For a global bank for example, with twenty or more branches in different cities across hundreds of kilometres, deploying a microwave network is almost impossible.”

The fibre versus satellite connectivity debate is one the company is quite used to. With so much fibre being laid across the continent, will VSAT still have a role to play in ten years’ time?

The company explains: “This has been said since 2005, and indeed many new fibres have been laid, however the VSAT market has increased, mostly because the internet usage trend changes. Today, the single end user is consuming more than five times bandwidth compared to last five years. It's an application evolution with bandwidth and speed key.”

With this in mind, Gilat Telecom has invested in its VSAT offering and developed a new self-control portal, designed specifically for the African market.

According to the company, this gives organisations complete control over their networks and full visibility of all their services, including billing, OSS and BSS visible on the same dashboard.

IPTEC has been using Gilat Telecom’s VSAT service to provide connectivity to NGOS, ISPs and enterprises across South Sudan.

CEO Kamrul Hasan Sagar said, “We are using various VSAT technologies as a managed service, VNO and more. “

Davor Folkenfolk, Head of Engineering at Gilat Telecom, added: “We use an extensive number of satellite providers which means we can pick the best service for our customers. We can then help them to maximise their bandwidth so that connectivity isn’t something they have to worry about anymore. Our new VSAT capabilities have been driven by demand and developed with our long-term customers.”