GILAT SATCOM

G ILAT SATCO M

Striving to play a big role in Africa’s technology-driven future by investing in its service offering www.gilat.net

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Connectivity with Value-Added Solutions Having been present in Africa for more than a decade, global communications Company, Gilat Satcom has been focused on ways to diversify its revenue streams and remain ahead of the growing competition on the continent Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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ith the level of communication continuously growing in Africa and the unprecedented growth and utilisation of technology to enhance businesses, civilian life and industry, leading communication service provider, Gilat Satcom intends to grow into the value-added products and services that bolster the background management of cellular operations, ISP’s and banks to shape the future of technology on the continent.

With a growing global satellite and fibre connectivity presence in 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the Company represents the international arm of the US$7.5 billion Eurocom Group, created with the purpose of extending the reach of the Group into new markets and adding further value to telecommunication and satellite services.

Eurocom, the largest privately-owned holding Company and largest telecommunications Group in Israel, offers a full suite of telecommunications services including landline, cellular, DBS and ISP services for the various governments, NGOs and cellular networks.

“Leveraging this strong Group backing and communications infrastructure, Gilat Satcom has been able to access larger and more complex projects and also advance its communication channels to remain at the cutting edge of innovation, answering each individual market’s needs on a case-by-case basis,” explains Dan Zajicek, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gilat Satcom.

“An Afro-Israeli Company”

Gilat Satcom’s strategic move into Africa was a result of prior industry knowhow garnered from the market in Israel, allowing the Company to utilise its wider expertise to deploy a similar strategy in a new location.

Having held a presence on the continent for more than a decade, the Company is very much aware of the rapid technology changes sweeping the continent, and the continual improvements to background infrastructure.

“With Africa representing more than 80 percent of its revenue stream, Gilat Satcom is well rooted in Africa. The continent is experiencing a technological revolution and we are at the forefront of this, not only introducing high-tech solutions to those who can afford it, but creating innovative solutions to close the digital gap,” says Zajicek.

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Ofer Doron, VP Operations & Engineering

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INTELSAT S.A.

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ntelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) is the world’s leading provider of satellite services, delivering high performance connectivity solutions for media, fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure, enterprise and government and military applications. Intelsat provides services to more than 1,300 customers in nearly 200 countries and territories.

Gilat Satcom HQ (L-R): Tzachit Smaga, Director Human Resources; Orit Gal, CFO; Ami Schneider, VP Sales MSS; Ofer Doron, VP Operations & Engineering; Dan Kamhi, VP Sales; Eran Yoran, CMO & Business Development; and Dan Zajicek, CEO

“Together with Raga, our partner in DRC, we have installed and now operate the first O3B PoP in Africa. We are also shareholders in WIOCC, one of Africa’s biggest fibre network players; therefore representing our excellent cost base - both on EASSY in the east and WACs in the west - from which to expand our capacity and gain an even stronger footprint on the continent,” he further details.

This wise investment began seeing dividends for Gilat Satcom, with Cellcom, Bharti Airtel, Orange, Vodacom and many other telecommunications companies benefitting from a longstanding partnership and high quality service level agreements (SLAs).

Moreover, the changing nature of SLAs and quality of service has meant a stronger demand for a higher level of security and visibility; as well as cost-effective, tailored solutions for the customer. For Gilat Satcom, this was a blessed challenge.

Zajicek adds: “Set apart by our ability to execute complicated solutions in accordance with time and budget constraints, we now see a bigger demand coming from the rural areas in Africa and are adapting and shaping

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these solutions to fit around this new market; connecting more customers to sub-services such as cell networks and enterprise solutions.”

Cyber security

As fibre began to take Africa by storm in 2010, the telecommunications architecture surrounding this evolved, making connecting to the internet much cheaper. This improved infrastructure prompted Gilat Satcom to introduce new value-added services to distinguish itself from the competition by focusing on not just infrastructure, but the resultant services from this.

Moreover, as fibre capacity increased, the requirement for security products started to arrive in response to the increased chance of attacks.

In response to this, Gilat Satcom invested in DDoS security, an ongoing managed and secure service to protect customers from spam and cyber threats. “Our security services enable us to provide customers with a clean and efficient channel from the offset, as we clean the channel of spam from our PoP in Europe and the US, resulting in a higher net capacity on both an international and local scale. For the

Intelsat’s network, which covers 99% of the world’s populated regions, is comprised of a global fleet of approximately 50 satellites and the IntelsatOneSM terrestrial network, featuring eight strategically located teleports and more than 36,000 miles of leased fiber. An industry leader in technology and innovation, we recently announced our next generation Intelsat Epic NG satellite platform, which includes high performance satellite capacity in an open-architecture design.

As the global leader in satellite communications, Intelsat has provided transmission services for many of the iconic moments of the past 50 years, including the global delivery of video signals of the first moonwalk, providing the “hot line” connecting the White House and the Kremlin and transmitting live television coverage of every Olympics since 1968. The ubiquitous reach of our services allows us to assist first responders with critical connectivity during humanitarian relief Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx efforts.

Today, Intelsat collaborates with its customers to envision their future network requirements, and connects them using our leading satellite-based network solutions, transforming our customers’ opportunities.

Envision…Connect…Transform…with Intelsat, celebrating 50 years of space leadership in 2014.

www.intelsat.com

Epic Flexibility, Endless Connectivity Reliable, five-bar connectivity for service providers in emerging markets With EpicNG, Intelsat’s next-generation, high-throughput, backhaul solution, delivering future connectivity in Africa just got easier. Intelsat EpicNG is engineered for mobile operators that need to serve remote customers, across any terrain, regardless of conditions. Best of all, EpicNG works with your existing infrastructure, making it the most cost-effective and reliable solution for your network.

Only Intelsat, a company with 50 years of technical and operational expertise, a global fleet of approximately 50 satellites, and the next generation satellite platform can promise you epic flexibility and endless connectivity.

www.intelsat.com/Broadband_Outlook

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customer, this means a more effective use of data and more megabytes per dollar, making it more cost-effective for those who choose us,” explains Zajicek.

Epic Service prelaunch

Leveraging its strong relationship with Intelsat, Gilat Satcom is already rolling out its new, high-throughput satellite (HTS) service and EPIC contracts, a year before the first satellite is launched.

Eran Yoran, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Business Development

Smart Village Project In 2015, Gilat Satcom launched its Smart Village concept, providing villagers in rural Africa access to telephony and internet powered by solar electricity and an efficient Wi-Fi solution that is available for as little as $1-$5 a month.

The Smart Village is economically self-sustaining and scalable so it can grow with demand and with a minimal additional investment. This is a growing project, providing a solution which provides capacity to these areas, providing communication where there is none and serving as a platform for access to e-learning, e-healthcare, e-government and more.

“As a long term supplier of broadband in Africa, it’s our duty to give back to the community and recognise the huge role that connectivity plays in people’s lives. Via our NGOnly service, we provide free capacity for NGO’s so they can better support local communities,” highlights Yoran.

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Gilat Satcom’s data centre hosted by Bezeqint, a sister Company in the Eurocom Group

explains the process: “Our motto is ‘the future is coming… get connected’, and is representative of our desire to be at the front of innovation. In the case of HTS, our customers today are already signing EPIC contracts. We serve them today from an existing Intelsat satellite that will be replaced with a new EPIC one; however, we are already providing the capacity and pricing that the customer will gain from EPIC.” Not only will this increase satellite capacity and value for money for the customer, but while they wait for the new satellite to be launched, Gilat Satcom has a whole host of valueadded services that they can access as part of their long-term contract in the meantime.

The CEO adds: “Becoming EPIC HTS-ready is our way of looking toward the future, by investing in the best technology ahead of time and making it available to our customers first. Our customers are among the first in Africa to experience this technology.”

Push-to-talk over satellite

In addition to traditional services, Gilat Satcom is a mobile satellite services (MSS) expert, holding a strong relationship with both Iridium and Inmarsat. Due to its relationship with Israeli defence forces, Gilat Satcom was chosen as one of a handful of Iridium partners to distribute Iridium’s new PTT platform around the world.

Zajicek states: “Working closely with Iridium, a mobile satellite communications Company, we recently launched the PTT service; a smarter, more cost-effective and more secure way of communicating either as a group or as individuals.

“Essentially, PTT is a globalrange walkie-talkie that has proven extremely beneficial to world security organisations, NGOs and the military; as well as presenting many advantages for civilian and business use across aviation, maritime and enterprise.”

As security needs are rising, PTT technology is becoming more and

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Iridium PTT: Build and manage your groups easily.

Push-to-Talk with individuals and teams anywhere in the world, over satellite

Gilat Satcom headquarters

more important, especially in Africa where vast areas of the country do not receive full coverage by any other means except satellite; and in other parts of the world where the security forces are in a need of a reliable and secure one-to-many solution.

“Adding to this are two other unique products; Suricate and SuricatePRO. This revolutionary communication solution provides users in underground and other closed facilities with the ability to communicate over standard satellite phones or satellite systems without having to leave their secure surroundings,” Yoran adds.

partner network.

“Today, Gilat Satcom is a multifaceted Company that has evolved beyond satellite communication, embracing the latest industry innovations and practices as communications become better and more affordable. We work closely with our customers to understand their future challenges, and invest to give them a competitive edge,” Yoran summarises.

Zajicek concludes: “As a Company that provides both satellite and fibre to African customers, installing a data centre in one of our PoPs come as a natural choice for us in 2016. Innovation Multi-faceted is something that is very much rooted Ensuring a high level of service from within our DNA, therefore our desire to its staff and subcontractors via a strict address the biggest trends with the best training framework and facility, 2016 products and services is unparalleled is to revolve around the value-add for in the industry; directly reacting to the Gilat Satcom; a consequence of its hard growing interest in data, cloud and work and huge investments in a strong subsequent products such as security infrastructure backbone, extensive and enterprise solutions to enable Africa market research and longstanding to reach its full potential.

Iridium Go: Turn your smartphone or tablet into a satellite phone

Lock&Roll: A global satellite/GSM container monitoring system

MHub: Fleet management

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GILAT SATCOM HQ 21 Yegia Kapayim Street PO Box 7144 Petach-Tikva 49130 Israel T: +972 39 255 027 | +972 39 255 015 sales@gilat.net

www.gilat.net