By providing this license, the country's telecommunications regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), in effect broke the monopoly of a single VSAT networks operator in Kenya, a phenomenon that exists in most African countries. Gilat also announced a slew of new VSAT contracts with customers in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

In Kenya, operating under the name "NyoyaSat", Gilat Alldean (Africa) is deploying DialAw@y IP, FaraWay and Skystar 360E hubs, and several networks of each platform throughout the country, providing private corporate data networks. Gilat Alldean will now be offering high-speed data networks to corporations, SME's, government agencies and NGO's across Africa based on the Skystar 360E, DialAw@y IP and FaraWay platforms.

In Tanzania, the country's largest IP operator, Satcom Networks Africa Ltd., in an initial order, is installing a Skystar Advantage hub and some one hundred sites across the country. Satcom Networks Africa Ltd., which is also an ISP, will be providing its customers, which include banks and Tanzanian government ministries, with private data networks and IP applications.

Ethiopian Telecom Corporation (ETC), a long time Gilat customer, has completed upgrading its DialAw@y IP and FaraWay telephony networks, and is adding several hundred rural telephony sites across Ethiopia. As part of the upgrade to the existing several hundred sites, the network is now totally digital and IP enabled. Gateways with digital, rather than analog interfaces, and multiple E1 interfaces, have been added to all the network switches.

In Mozambique, licensed operator Satcom is installing 150 DialAw@y IP sites for corporate networks. The mesh VSAT networks will provide IP and voice for virtual private networks (VPN).

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local operator TATEM TELECOM is installing an initial order of more than 150 remote DialAw@y IP sites for rural telephony applications throughout the country.

In Rwanda, Artel Communications is installing a DialAw@y IP network, which includes a hub and an initial order of 100 VSAT terminals. The network is expected to be used by Artel to provide customers and businesses with telephony and high-speed Internet service in education, health care, financial services and government markets in Rwanda and Central Africa.

DialAw@y IP is one of the only VSAT products capable of providing high-speed Internet connectivity and toll-quality telephony service on a single, low-cost platform. Each unit supports a PC/LAN connection and up to six telephone channels. It is a low-cost solution for the fulfillment of Universal Service/Access Obligations, Public Call Office requirements and small office/home office (SOHO) requirements for bundled telephony and Internet access.

The Skystar 360E platform offers a flexible, two-way satellite-based solution enabling interactive broadband IP and multicasting applications. With DVB standards and extensive P capabilities, the 360E supports virtually any data and IP multicast application.

Erez Antebi, Gilat's Vice President and General Manager for Asia, Africa and Pacific Rim, said, "We are very pleased that the Communications Commission of Kenya has decided to allow competition in the VSAT communications sector and provide our partner Gilat Alldean with a license to operate.

"Already now, we have many times the number of VSATs installed in Kenya as does the operator that functioned alone until now. We hope that this bold move, which ultimately will reward the citizens of Kenya, will be followed by other countries in the region."

Antebi added, "The new contracts announced here demonstrate Gilat's continued expansion of its business in Africa. Thousands of users throughout the continent now have access to Gilat VSAT technology in the enterprise and rural telephony markets, and soon many others will have broadband Internet access as well."

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