VSAT Satellite Community

Gateway Communications is selected by Kawuleza as their partner for growth Kawuleza can now expand capacity offering and reach across South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:25:00 +0000

Gateway Communications, the leading supplier of pan-African telecommunications services and Kawuleza Wireless, a growing Internet Service Provider (ISP) in South Africa, are working together to provide high speed bandwidth to major South African cities. Kawuleza has commissioned an STM1 in Cape Town, expected to go live in mid-January, which will expand the company’s existing reach within the area. Kawuleza will then be utilising capacity from Gateway’s STM1 to provide customers with affordable and reliable connectivity in Johannesburg and will add Durban as a new location. Here Kawuleza will be able to offer incremental capacity packages to customers as they need them.

Gateway Communications has been chosen as Kawuleza’s primary capacity supplier and has been selected as a preferred provider for Kawuleza’s rapid expansion plans. The company’s four year plan sees Kawuleza growing 20-fold; expanding to Witbank, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth and East London amongst other locations. Kawuleza anticipates a future customer base of over 22 000 within the next five years. Kawuleza currently works with customers such as Foschinidata, which provides ICT services to the Foschini retails group and NYK Logistics, a transportation logistics company in South Africa.

“Gateway Communications’ technical and on-the-ground experience has proven to be invaluable,” says Mike Edwards, Acting CEO of Kawuleza Wireless. “Gateway Communications provides us with cost effective, reliable and efficient capacity and with its large African footprint and redundant networks, it is an ideal partner to support our growth. We will now be able to easily reach customers in areas that we have never serviced before.”

“We are excited to be there every step of the way as Kawuleza expands its services and gains new customers,” comments Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications. “By providing high quality capacity, reliable back-up systems and efficient customer service, Kawuleza will be able meet all its business goals in the allocated time.”

10 Most Influential People in Mobile Telecommunications

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:24:00 +0000

The wireless explosion of the past decade has given rise to numerous technologies, devices and corporations, all of which have contributed to the dramatic changes in the way we live, work and play. Behind the scenes are countless more individuals whose decisions, research and creativity each day make it all work for us. Today we look at those individuals making the biggest splash in mobile today.

The following, in no particular order, are who we consider to be the ten most influential people in mobile telecommunications.

Andy Rubin – For his indispensable role in bringing the Android platform to life at while at Android, Inc. and, with Google and the Open Handset Alliance, bringing it to market. The smart phone playing field hasn’t been the same since.

Patrick Slim Domit – As Chairman of America Movíl, the world’s fourth largest mobile network, Slim heads up a hugely successful suite of prepaid mobile services you may have heard of: Tracfone Wireless, Net10, and Straight Talk.

Peter Chou – Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC has been instrumental in the success of Android. Now working with two separate platforms, Windows OS as well as Android OS, CEO Chou has HTC positioned to be an even more huge player in the smart phone market.

Vittorio Colao – CEO of Vodafone, Colao captains a mobile juggernaut, the largest mobile telecommunications company by revenue. With well over 300 million subscribers in over 30 countries under his stewardship, when Vittorio sneezes, the whole industry catches cold.

Wang Jianzhou – While Vodafone is the money leader, China Mobile ranks first in subscribers, at over half a billion. A market that size can’t help but have an influence on the industry; and as Chairman and CEO, Wang makes the decisions that influence that market.

Mary McDowell Exec. V.P., Nokia. Heading the mobile phones division since July 2010, McDowell is charged with regaining Nokia’s prominence on the ever-evolving landscape of smart phone technology.

Julius Genachowski – Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; his leadership of the development and implementation of the National Broadband Plan, especially the wireless back-haul strategy, will indeed broaden many horizons in telecommunications.
Scott Forstall – Senior V.P. of iOS Software, Apple Inc. As one of the top brains and the driving force behind the gold standard in mobile operating systems, Forstall forever changed the way we view mobile internet.

Rajiv Mehrotra – CEO, VNL (Vihaan Networks Ltd.) and mastermind of the solar-powered GSM base stations that have filled a much-needed void in the global mobile footprint. Someone needed to find a way to get mobile to the masses where it wasn’t considered feasible or cost-effective. Mehrotra did it.

Steve Jobs – His all-too-soon passing hardly diminishes the lasting imprint he has had, and will continue to have on the wireless frontier for the foreseeable future. Until the next Steve Jobs arrives, or can you already spot him on our list?

source: phonetvinternet

Internet Service: Compare and Contrast: Congress to FaceBook

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:52:00 +0000

This may seem to be a bit of a stretch to be making a comparison between the governing body of the United States and a portion of the social media, but there really is more to it than one might suspect at first glance. Let’s look at some of the ways they are similar and then some of the ways they are different.

Similarities:

ñ Facebook is always changing how things operate. This is just like Congress and the tax code. What was deductible last year, may not be this year. It’s hard to keep up with the changes.

Facebook and Congress both have much more access to your private information than you are likely to be comfortable with.
There are special interest groups vying for your attention and support along the margins of facebook, just like the lobbyists that are continually trying to gain the support of congressmen.

Facebook continually insists that its purpose is to simply give its users what they want, just as Congress says that they are attempting to legislate the will of the people.
Opinion polls don’t really matter in Congress, any more than they do on facebook. They’re going to do what they want anyway.
Verbally fighting between the right and the left goes on in both places on a regular basis.
Voting’ takes place in both, although, with facebook, it is in the form of clicking ‘like’.
Opinions are flaunted daily in both places, as well as expressions of outrage.
The members of facebook could all vote for a change and have it vetoed by the leadership of facebook, just as Congress can pass legislation and have it vetoed by the President.

Differences:
We do elect the leaders in Congress, but facebook…no one really knows who is running this virtual world.
Congress takes breaks and vacations, but facebook is always there.

Congress is funded by our tax dollars and facebook is funded by advertising dollars.
You’re actually more likely to get a response from a complaint written to your congressman than to a complaint written to Facebook.
People have been frustrated with Congress much longer than facebook, and they’ll get over their frustrations with facebook much sooner than their frustrations with Congress.

Congress can send our soldiers to fight in other countries, while facebook lets you choose your own battles.

More citizens are actively involved with facebook than they are with Congress.
Congress revolves around the give and take among members, which hasn’t been working very well, as of late. On facebook, you can each do your own thing without having to try and win over others to your point of view.

There are just about as many similarities as there are differences between these two well-known entities. They both affect our daily lives much more than we would like to admit.

source: internetservice.net

Gateway Communications expands services into the Middle East & North Africa New MENA office in Beirut opens for business

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:43:00 +0000

Gateway Communications, the leading supplier of telecommunications services across Africa, has continued to expand its international reach with the establishment of an office in Beirut, Lebanon. The move is in response to the increasing traffic into and out of locations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the ongoing demand for connectivity within the region from Gateway’s existing customer base.

The MENA market has seen rapid privatisation in the last five years resulting in fierce competition to gain the largest market share in the region. According to Cisco’s Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update (February 2011), the Middle East and Africa will have the strongest mobile data traffic growth of any region (at around 129 percent CAGR) between now and 2015, with voice traffic demonstrating similar trends. As the carrier of choice for many of Africa’s largest mobile network operators (MNOs), the expansion to MENA is a natural progression for Gateway Communications. Leveraging its extensive experience in the African market, Gateway Communications will now also offer the highest quality voice, data and value added services (VAS) to the MENA region.

Gateway Communications has already established relationships with many leading operators in the MENA region in Morocco, Qatar, Sudan, UAE and Egypt. In addition to being the largest satellite provider to Africa, Gateway Communications also offers the advantage of a strong pan-African footprint with on-the-ground local expertise throughout the continent.

“Expanding our reach into the Middle East is an important step in our mission to connect Africa to the rest of the world, and helps us to fulfil our objective of strengthening our offering in North Africa,” commented Mike Van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications, “The location of our presence in Beirut ensures we are geographically close to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, allowing us to work with operators who are looking for high quality inbound and outbound communications services in the region and across the continent.”

For more information on Gateways initiatives in MENA please contact:
Elie Jeitani
Director, MENA
elie.jeitani@gatewaycomms.com
Tel : +961 1 513 813

10 Ways Net Neutrality Laws Affect Your ISP

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:37:00 +0000

The subject of network neutrality on the web is a hotly debated issue with the potential to drastically alter the future of the internet. Net neutrality laws as currently written address three key issues: transparency; no blocking; and no unreasonable discrimination . Opponents argue for tiered services that distribute the cost of services according to usage. In either case, the effects on internet service providers would be significant. Here are 10 ways in which net neutrality laws affect your ISP:

Neutrality laws would require transparency among ISP’s, to disclose their network management policies. In other words, your ISP needs to be up front about pricing, network performance, and how it provides access to services without discrimination.

They would ban unreasonable blocking or discrimination by fixed-line providers, but show more leniency toward wireless networks. Wireless providers would only be prohibited from blocking applications that compete with their own, but would be free to block others.

ISP’s would not be permitted to favor their own applications or services over those offered by their competitors. Consumers would be able to choose those apps and services they preferred, regardless of which ISP they used.
There would be no tiered services. Sites owned by large corporations could not gain a competitive advantage over smaller competitors by paying for faster load speeds.

An ISP could not pick and choose how to distribute its available bandwidth. As in the 2007 case of Comcast blocking P2P sites during peak times, an ISP would be prohibited from blocking specific sites for the sake of improving network performance.
An internet service provider could still block illegal or harmful content (child pornography, spam, malware, etc) or slow down its entire network to preserve bandwidth under the proposed new laws.

Pricing of ISP services could be significantly impacted. For instance, if an ISP was also a video content provider, it might be induced into offering deeply discounted packages in order to compete with third party competitors.

As argued by net neutrality opponents, an inability to set up tiered services or to assess additional charges for access to third-party services would likely mean that your ISP would pass along their loss of revenue in the form of higher initial access fees. So you may not have to pay extra for access to Netflix once you’re logged onto the web, but your ISP may charge you a higher subscription rate before you can log on.
Your ISP could potentially be in a position to alter the e-commerce landscape at large. That is, if neutrality laws don’t pass, and your ISP is able to charge more for tiered services, those who cannot afford to pay for faster access would no longer be able to compete with those who can.

Ultimately, net neutrality will determine whether your ISP can itself compete on a level playing field where consumers can choose freely between its services and those of its competitors.

source: phonetvinternet.com

10 Ways Satellites Have Been Used to Spy on YOU

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:37:00 +0000

In these post-9/11 days of the Patriot Act, there has come a sharp transformation of America’s collective psyche with regard to the interrelationship between public security and personal liberty. Whereas in times past we had been a people who placed freedom above all else, today we seem more willing to compromise that freedom in the name of national defense. So then it comes as no surprise that Uncle Sam has been keeping a watchful eye on more than just his usual suspects: terrorists, communists, and militant environmentalists. Given the fact that satellites provide a global link between other technologies, their use in intelligence gathering is extensive indeed. Here’s a list of ten ways that satellites have been used to spy on you too:
Intercepting E-mails – According to this report in the New York Times, the National Security Agency has used spy satellites for the interception of private emails. In an apparent case of “over-collection” of data, American citizens who were not identified as security threats were inadvertently targeted.

Intercepting Phone Calls – The same report indicates that phone calls of private citizens were also monitored via U.S. government-owned spy satellites.
GPS Monitoring – Spying is not just a government pastime either. Employers are increasingly making use of GPS technology to keep tabs on drivers. With it, they can track your movements, driving speeds, and how long you’ve spent parked under that tree on your lunch break.
Google Earth – It may not be real-time tracking per se, but Google’s satellite imagery can get awfully up close and personal. I could see the lawn furniture in my mother’s backyard. Just saying. Let’s hope her neighbors have a building permit for that room addition they’re working on.

Cell Phones – With mobile devices having been equipped with GPS capabilities, your cell phone is now essentially a tracking device attached to your hip. The overt purpose of this is to provide a local response locate for callers in emergency situations, but it still means that Big Brother can find you if he wants to.

Television Programming – We already know that spyware tracks our movements on the world wide web, but it seldom occurs to us that the same thing is being done via that box sitting on top of our entertainment centers. For starters, let’s just say it could at least be a source of embarrassment for some, when their cable TV provider starts offering suggested viewing based on previously viewed programming.

Mobile Web Tracking – For that matter, just as with TV providers and with terrestrial internet connections, satellites make it possible to track internet activity on mobile devices.
Private Purchasers – The Cold War having long since passed into history, satellite surveillance has become accessible to the private sector. Individual and corporate entities can buy satellite access for myriad legitimate uses such as mapping. Privatization of satellite surveillance, however, can lead to some questions about accountability.

Photos For Sale – One such area of concern with regard to accountability is in the sale of satellite imagery. Some privately owned satellites are taking high-resolution photos that are available for purchase for as little as $750. Even with a federally mandated restriction on their resolution, such photos can still identify Mom’s lawn chairs.

OnStar – This satellite-based feature featured in General Motors vehicles has recently been in the news because of a policy change regarding their service. GM apparently has decided that it would be in your(?) best interest to continue tracking your movements even after you’ve unsubscribed from the service. Additionally, they have made provision for the sale of customers’ private information.

source: internetproviders.net

About Geolink Access VSAT Networks

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:04:00 +0000

Geolink Satellite Services, a CETel group company, is a leading global satellite service provider based in Paris. The company provides a broad range of services comprising Geolink Access, iDirect, VSAT solutions, Teleport services, Iridium, Inmarsat technologies and Clipway a media solution. Geolink Satellite Services serves a wide portfolio of customers including NGOs, governmental institutions, oil & gas, mining, media, and shipping companies.

The Geolink network extends to almost 2000 remote sites in more than 50 Countries across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In spring 2011 CETel Group with its headquarter in Germany (Central European Telecom Services) acquired SeaMobile Europe and formed the new entity Geolink Satellite Services which is an independent, affiliated company.

The original Geolink company founded in 1991, pioneered in delivering innovative communication services to land and maritime sectors predominately in Europe and Africa. In early 2007, Geolink became SeaMobile Europe as part of SeaMobile Inc./MTN.

CETel was founded with broad background in the satellite industry.

CETel operates a new and state-of-the art teleport near Cologne / Bonn in Germany. To further strengthen its business in the Middle East and GCC market CETel established an independent entity in the UAE. Furthermore the company grew with the acquisition of the NDSatcom Managed Services in 2009.
The group consists of the 3 independent entities: CETel Germany, CETel Middle East and Geolink Satellite Services.

CETel Group is a leading provider for satellite communication solutions worldwide with top-level teleport facilities and access to multiple satellites.

As a recognized partner of the largest satellite operators, CETel Group develops and distributes solutions meeting the economy�s key sector requirements such as oil & gas, humanitarian, maritime, media�

CETel Group offer is based on undertaking the complete process, from deploying the satellite solution, the project management up to the space segment.

By joining the German group CETel, Geolink Satellite Services benefits from the state-of-the art teleport infrastructure and increases its satellite capacity.

for more info visit: http://www.geolink.com/

Gateway Communications shortlisted for two AfricaCom Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:31:00 +0000

To be announced on the 9 November 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa
Gateway Communications, the leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has been nominated in both the ‘Best Backhaul Solution for Africa’ and ‘Customer Service Excellence Award’ categories at this year’s AfricaCom Awards.

The AfricaCom Awards recognises industry leaders and innovators in Africa’s telecommunications sector. Gateway Communications entered its innovative satellite utilisation solution, CellDirect, into the ‘Best Backhaul Solution for Africa’ category. This category recognises fibre, satellite or wireless solutions providers that that have significantly improved backhaul capacity. CellDirect uses Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) technology, which makes use of a sophisticated bandwidth manager to allocate satellite capacity – based on time, frequency and type of capacity available - in order to meet traffic demand. This increases satellite efficiency for mobile network operators (MNOs) and assists with reducing costs.

The Customer Service Excellence Award focuses on operators or service providers that have maintained an excellent level of customer service, or greatly improved their service since November 2010 .Gateway Communications prides itself on providing a reliable and fast service; innovative technology to resolve problems efficiently and timeously; regular performance reporting; and customer cost-saving solutions.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner on the 9 November 2011 at the Waterfront Lookout in Granger Bay, Cape Town. For more information about the AfricaCom Awards visit: http://www.africacomawards.com/

10 Words That I Associate with Satellite TV Providers

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:14:00 +0000

When I think of satellite TV providers, certain words come to mind. Some of the words have a positive connotation to them, others a negative connotation. Some words are neutral, neither negative or positive, just associative with the type of service they provide.

Dish – You have to have one of those satellite dishes attached to your house or located somewhere on your property if you have satellite TV. Thankfully, they are much smaller now than they used to be, but you still can’t exactly hide it. It needs to be out in the open to get reception.
Rural – Most people that I know who use satellite TV providers live in rural settings. They don’t have the option of cable TV, so they’ve opted for satellite TV to give them multiple channels.

Internet – Most satellite TV providers also offer internet access at an additional charge to their customers. Again, these customers don’t usually have the option of cable internet but may have DSL or dialup options available for internet service.

Weather – It seems like satellite TV providers aren’t able to quite eliminate weather interference with the signal reception. Although it appears to have improved over what it was in previous years, and is not as big of a problem.
Selections – Subscribers to satellite TV are known for having many more television channels to select from than cable subscribers. This seems to always have been the biggest positive aspect of satellite TV.
Record – Recording options seem to be provided to satellite TV users in many of their packages. It also seems that I hear more of their clients referring to the use of these features, as well.
Receiver – In addition to the exterior dish, satellite TV users also have a receiver box located inside their home and connected to their television.
Contract – Unlike the month-to-month billings, people experience with cable TV, satellite TV customers have a more detailed contract to deal with. The contracts also seem to run for one or two years, rather than just a month at a time, as they do with cable.

Installers – Because of the positioning needed for the installation of a satellite dish, satellite TV installers seem to require more time than is normally required for the simpler cable hookup.

Package – Most satellite TV providers advertise their different ‘packages’, almost using the lowest priced package as their example in price. Cable TV providers do the same thing of course. It seems like there are always ‘new packages’ being advertised by both.

source : satellitedish.org

Gateway Communications wins big at SatCom Star Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:24:00 +0000

Celebrated as winner in three categories
Announced yesterday at the SatCom Star Awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg, June 1, 2011 – Gateway Communications, the largest provider of carrier solutions in Africa, was named ‘Satellite Service Provider of the Year’, ‘GSM Backhaul Operator of the Year’ and was commended for providing ‘First Class Customer Service’. The SatCom Star Awards are designed to celebrate the continued growth and success of the satellite marketplace and focus on some of the exceptional performers within the industry.

Through these accolades, Gateway Communications demonstrates the difference it has made to the satellite industry in Africa and the new and innovative services it has introduced to the market, whilst aiming to connect the unconnected. It also brings to light the high customer satisfaction levels it has received and the extent to which it has accommodated the changing needs of the system in Africa.

“Gateway Communications has once again proven that it is a leader in the satellite industry, with access to more satellites across more regions, than any other service provider in Africa,” commented Mike van den Bergh, CEO, Gateway Communications. “Satellite will remain hugely important across Africa, because a number of countries depend substantially on satellite for their voice and data traffic, whether calling city-to-city, country-to-country, or browsing the web. Understanding the fundamentals of communication in Africa is what we do and with so many new uses of satellite-enabled technologies on the way, we’re confident that satellite services will continue to play a pivotal role in pan-African connectivity for many years to come.”
For more information about the SatCom Star Awards go to:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2011/starsza/

10 Ways to Save Money with Satellite Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sun, 01 May 2011 09:23:00 +0000

If you are in a rural area and really need Internet access but don’t want to have a huge communications bill for your home, you may want to consider different ways to leverage your Satellite Internet connection (VOIP phone calls, streaming movies, and even streaming TV shows). Of course, you don’t need to live in a rural area to get Satellite Internet but you most likely have additional high speed internet options from your local cable company and phone company. We thought we would focus this particular article on saving on identifying at least 10 ways you can use your satellite internet connection to save money.

Get Rid of Your Home Phone – With the many available ways to talk with another person over the Internet you really don’t need a home phone. Couple that with the popularity of cell phones and you can see why the number of people signing up for land phone lines is in rapid decline. But you can use services like Skype.com to have a long distance or local conversation for free over your satellite internet connection. With Skype you do have limited free credits but can sign up for an unlimited plan for a very low rate. However, if your friends and family get on Skype too you can do Skype-to-Skype for free. Now, depending on your satellite internet service you may need your home phone line for uploads so make sure before canceling your home phone service. If your satellite internet provider requires a home phone then get the most basic and feature-free line your local phone company can offer you (often referred to as a “naked” line).

Stop Renting Movies at the Video Store – Even with several creative renting schemes by most of the large movie rental chains, you can generally sign up for Netflix.com or a similar movie site for less than $10/month and get unlimited movie streaming. It only take a couple of movie rentals per month to pay for this service and you can watch as many movies as you like. You can either use an HDMI cable to connect your computer to your TV or you can even use a game player like a Wii to stream movies from services like Netflix.

Don’t buy or replace your DVR or VCR – With great services like those that Hulu.com offers, you can watch your favorite TV shows whenever you want. Yes, you have a few annoying ads that you have to endure (of course you have that when you watch the shows live on the networks too and those aren’t quite as easy to ignore).
Don’t pay for Cable TV Services – You can watch your favorite TV Shows on the major network sites NBC, CBS, and ABC. As mentioned above you can also use sites like Hulu.com. You can also use sites like FreeTVonline.com to stream live TV from around the World over your internet connection.

Stop Your Newspaper Subscription – You can use either the same services for free from your newspaper (at least most of the articles). You can also get the major news from your local TV station websites and then of course the major news sites like CNN.com, ESPN.com, and more. There is a wealth of information available at much greater speeds online so you won’t have a need for a hard copy/printed newspaper going forward.

Save on Postage with Email Instead of Snail Mail – If you have easy and quick access to the Internet you can just shoot an email much more easily than you can write a letter and affix a postage stamp. Plus, you get the information out much more quickly to friends, family, and anyone else you need to contact.

Setup Online Banking and Save on Checks and Fees – You can also use your satellite internet connection to save on the number of checks you need to buy on your checking account. With a fast connection you can comfortably manage your finances online and just make electronic payments for utilities, mortgage, car payments, and more. It’s a small savings but every little bit can add up and at least you won’t run out of checks as quickly.

Setup Web Conference Calls to Reduce Travel Needs – Your satellite internet connection can also support services like GoToMeeting.com. You can conduct business easily with business partners around the World or close by with web conferencing. This allows you to reduce needs for office space, business trips (whether you are flying or driving), and several other related business expenses. This is especially important if you are running a small business out of your home.

Use Online Dating Sites – As odd as this may sound instead of spending money on blind dates and/or just roaming the singles scene you can actually save money by using services like LavaLife.com or Match.com over your internet connection and then only go on dates with people you really want to meet in person.

Use Coupon and Deal Sites – You can find an amazing number of deals online by either searching google using a search like “promotion code for XXXX” or something similar to that for nearly ANYTHING you are looking to purchase. You can also use sites like SlickDeals.net or CouponMom.com to find bargains. You would be surprised at how much cheaper you can buy things online if you have enough time and access to search thoroughly.

There are many more ways that you can save money with your satellite internet connection. You really are only limited by your own imagination. The important point is that you can use this one service to eliminate or reduce multiple other home services or costs if you choose to put a little effort into it.

It’s also important to note that to really leverage your satellite internet connection you need to get the best download/upload speeds that you can afford (keep in mind that your Internet connection can be used to save quite a bit of money so it is worth spending a little extra to get the higher speeds). You also need to research the fair access policies of each of the satellite companies which will limit what you can do with your satellite internet connection (they limit the amount of bandwidth you can consume within a certain time period). The best advice there is to tell them exactly what you want to do with their service (VOIP, Netflix, etc.).

They will steer you toward the best package for your intended use or they may tell you that their service just won’t work well for you. In any event, satellite internet is a great improvement over dial-up internet especially for those that cannot take advantage of other high speed internet services.

Source: http://www.satellitedish.org/blog/2010/10-ways-to-save-money-with-satellite-internet/

10 Facts About Satellites You Don't Know

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:16:00 +0000

We all marvel at the amazing images that we see coming from our satellites whether it is a view from space of a major hurricane or a great look at a huge sinkhole that almost looks like a perfect circle from space. Other than the fact that they exist most people have no idea either how many satellites they are or what their intended purposes are. We thought it would present the following 10 facts about satellites that most people we talk to do not know.

There are 928 operating satellites as of April 2010. You would think with such a large number that they would eventually crash into each other (some actually do), but that is something we rarely ever hear about.

The USA or U.S. companies own 437 of the 928 operating satellites. That’s 47.1% of the satellites (actually I’m guessing that most Americans would assume we own even more of them).
The country that owns the second highest number of satellites is Russia with 95. The U.S. owns 4X more than the next closest country. China is in third place with 58 satellites. It’s not surprising that the 3 most recognized super powers and first to really explore space are leading the rest of the World. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues and for how long.
The rest of the breakdown in satellite ownership varies pretty wildly. There are over 115 countries that own at least a part of one of the 928 satellites in various orbits around the earth.
The majority of satellites are LEO (low earth orbits). This means that they range from 80 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth. The actual percentage is 48.4% of all satellites that are in LEO.

There are 381 satellites that are in Geosynchronous orbits (GEO) which is 36,000 kilometers or more above Earth. That accounts for another 41.1% of the satellites.
The remaining satellites (10.5%) are either in elliptical orbit (meaning their orbit is elliptical shaped) or they are in medium earth orbits (MEO) which simple means greater than 2,000 kilometers but less than 36,000 kilometers above Earth.

What does it cost to launch and build a satellite? Well, the answer of course is completely dependent on the function of the satellite but experts say the costs start at about $10 million and range up to $200 million.
The largest satellite TV provider (DirecTV) now has 18 million subscribers (a huge increase over the 320,000 they had in their first year of operation back in 1994). That’s pretty large when the U.S. Census bureau estimates that there are currently 129 million households in America (more than 10% of American households have DirecTV).

In terms of the use of the satellites 48.9% of all satellites are used for commercial purposes (satellite radio, satellite TV, satellite internet, etc.). While 25.1% are used for military purposes. The rest are for various Governmental/Civilian functions. Given the expense, it’s surprising that so many of them have commercial uses.

As you can see there are really a lot more satellites than most people realize and they have quite a few different and important uses. This is another example of the World finding many great ways to leverage a technology. Of course if you are a conspiracy theorist, it’s all just a great way for everyone to spy on each other.

source: http://www.satellitedish.org/blog/2010/10-facts-about-satellites-you-dont-know/

Gateway Communications to showcase online trading platform at Comptel Spring Convention in Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:29:00 +0000

Las Vegas, USA, March 18, 2011 – Gateway Communications, one of the largest aggregators of voice minutes to and from the African continent, will be exhibiting at the Comptel Spring Convention in Las Vegas, USA from the 20th -23rd March, 2011. The Convention is a networking event for innovative communications companies, and is hosted by trade association, Comptel.

Gateway Communications, with more direct connections to Africa than any other service provider, will be demonstrating its secure, real time trading platform, which connects customers with telecommunication companies that purchase and send minutes to Africa. Gateway Communications is also the only provider to have direct connections to the continent for pre-paid calling platforms.

Gateway Online Trading is open to any operator holding a license to purchase international switched minutes. The services available through this online portal include a simple sign in process, automated credit management, online fault reporting management and provisioning and extensive African route selection.

“All routes use direct interconnects with in-country mobile operators and postal, telephone and telegraph networks (PTTs), ensuring the best voice quality at the best rates,” says Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications. “Calls are all routed over our all IP Next Generation Network (NGN) and utilisation of the network is constantly monitored to ensure maximum availability.”

For more information about Gateway Communications’ Online Voice Trading visit: http://www.gatewaycomms.com/carrier/online-trading/

To learn more about the Comptel Spring Convention go to: http://www.comptelplus.org/

Visit Gateway Communications at booth 724.

Gateway Communications and Cibenix to power Rinphone, MobiMind VAS offering in Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:22:00 +0000

London, UK, February 15th 2011 – Rinphone and MobiMind, specialists in commercialising international telecom services, today announced their On Device Services (ODS) offering to Middle Eastern operators. The service will be supplied by Gateway Communications, a leading supplier of telecommunications services to Africa and the Middle East and Cibenix , an Irish-based mobile software and ODS vendor.

The combination of Gateway Communications’ market presence with the Cibenix ODS platform, will allow Rinphone and MobiMind to quickly deploy new value added services (VAS) to mobile operators thoughout the Middle East.

The offering includes a suite of compelling mobile internet content and services that mobile operators can offer their users in order to generate revenue and drive consumer data usage. Third party advertising is also bundled with the service, providing additional revenue and allowing mobile operators to promote their own services and brand their solution. The offering is available not just for high-end but also feature phones, thereby providing a mass market solution for today’s users.

Michel Doueihy, the General Manager of Rinphone explains that the service will first be launched in Saudi Arabia before expanding to other countries: “The Saudi market is one of the biggest in the region and very adaptive to all new technologies and services.”

“Consumer demands for mobile access to social networking content and acceptance of application downloads are just some of the recent trends that provide new revenue opportunities for mobile operators,” says Gerry Jones, Chairman, Cibenix. “We are delighted to deliver these services to Rinphone’s and MobiMind’s customers in the Middle East, and look forward to the many other prospects that lie ahead. “

“After agreeing a partnership with Cibenix in November to provide enhanced VAS to Africa and the Middle East, we are delighted with this first innovative step in our collaboration and look forward to the results that will be achieved by deploying services through Rinphone and MobiMind,”comments Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications. “Middle Eastern markets are dynamic and have huge potential for growth - through this initiative we will focus on consumer reach, service quality and the consumer experience.”

Gateway Communications and Cibenix collaboration set to benefit mobile operators across continent

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:39:00 +0000

On-Device Services (ODS) solution to drive mass market adoption and usage of mobile internet

Dublin, Ireland,30 November 2010 – Gateway Communications, the leading supplier of pan-African telecommunications services and Cibenix , an Irish-based mobile software and On-Device Services (ODS) vendor, have finalised a partnership agreement that will result in the provision of enhanced value added services to Africa and the Middle East.

The combination of the Cibenix ODS platform with Gateway Communications’ market experience and wide-reaching customer base, will allow mobile network operators to launch compelling on-device solutions that will generate revenue and contribute to cost savings. This will be achieved through increased consumer data usage, monetised online content and embedded advertising. The ODS service also provides opportunities for improving subscriber management and user experience.

“The benefits of our ODS solution for the operator and the consumer in other emerging markets have already been proven, through deployment in countries such as India. We are delighted to now be co-operating with Gateway Communications to bring the same solution to Africa and the Middle East,” says Gerry Jones, Chairman, Cibenix. “Market trends including mobile usage of social networking applications such as Facebook and Twitter, and consumer acceptance of application downloads, open new opportunities for mobile operators. Our partnership with Gateway Communications enables us to deliver on these opportunities for operators in the African and Middle Eastern markets.”

The solution being provided by Gateway Communications and Cibenix provides operators with a number of off-the-shelf product offerings:

· ‘ODS Connect’ allows for the seamless integration and on-device aggregation of popular social network destinations - a proven traffic generator for operators.

· ‘ODS SelfCare’ provides subscribers with quick and easy access to account and billing information, device settings, updates and FAQs.

· ‘ODS Storefront’ supports consumer discovery, preview and purchase of content and services.

· ‘ODS Widgets’ gives subscribers access to the operator’s own widgets, as well as third party widgets.

· ‘ODS Launcher’ provides a single point on the device for users to manage their digital lifestyles, through updating applications, links and bookmarks.

· ‘ODS Advertise’ provides seamless insertion of advertising throughout the above product offerings,providing a direct revenue stream and enabling operator branding.

“Gateway Communications and Cibenix have similar values and strategic objectives,” says Mike van den Bergh, CEO of Gateway Communications. “We both aim to identify and respond to the needs of the market, embrace innovation and keep our focus on customer experience. Gateway Communications looks forward to a long-term partnership with Cibenix , one that will continue to grow as the telecommunications industry expands and evolves.”

The ODS platform is currently available in markets across Africa and the Middle East. To find out more go to: http://www.cibenix.com/?page_id=110

Verizon Business Expands Global IP Network Reach in African Countries by Teaming With Gateway Business Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:13:00 +0000

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Multinational corporations can take advantage of a new network alliance Verizon has formed with Gateway Business Africa that will expand Verizon Business Private IP network capabilities in several African countries.

The agreement allows Verizon Business to leverage Gateway Business’ network presence and extend coverage of the Verizon multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network to an additional 14 pan-African countries by using interconnection points between the companies’ networks. The MPLS network gives customers a scalable and flexible cross-continent IP business communications platform for continued growth and global reach.

Verizon Business customers now can access Private IP network capabilities in Tanzania and Kenya in Africa’s eastern region; Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon on the western coast; and Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa in the central and southern regions. Other countries to be added to the Private-IP Gateway interconnection arrangement are Uganda, Lesotho, Angola and Zambia.

“As a leader in developing and delivering global IP network solutions worldwide, this new agreement continues to meet our customers’ growing requirements for IP as the global business platform of choice,” said Ihab Tarazi, vice president of Verizon’s global network planning. “Our network alliance and the MPLS interconnect enables full traffic integration of Verizon Business’ global Private IP network with Gateway Business’ network in this important emerging market. As a result, our multinational customers can rely on a single secure global network foundation for their business operations around the world.”

Verizon Private IP customers benefit from six classes of service (CoS), and latency-sensitive applications, such as VoIP and video, receive priority over applications such as e-mail. The ability to prioritize applications, combined with advanced reporting tools for network and application performance to the desktop and user level, make Private IP an ideal global platform for business communications and day-to-day operations.

“As the leading pan-African telecommunications provider, we look forward to helping Verizon Business expand its MPLS network coverage to meet their customers’ needs in this growing region,” said Wally Beelders, CEO of Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group. “We take pride in our commitment to provide outstanding network connectivity using a unique mix of submarine and terrestrial cables and satellite connections.”

Verizon Business delivers a comprehensive portfolio of managed network services, managing 300,000-plus security, network and hosting devices across more than 4,200 customer networks spanning 142 countries and territories, all backed by industry-leading service level agreements. The company’s global infrastructure, one of the most connected IP networks in the world, provide a solid foundation from which to serve multinational corporations and government agencies.

Linda Laughlin
Verizon Business
001 918-590-5595
linda.laughlin@verizonbusiness.com

Tom Tudor
Gateway Business Africa
0044 20 7173 1700
tom.tudor@gatewaycomms.com

About Gateway Business
Gateway Business is the leading provider of pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications. Gateway Business has customers in 42 sub Saharan countries and works in partnership with Africa’s largest businesses and many of the world’s principal corporations, helping them stay connected across Africa and into the rest of the world.
With large scale investment in Africa, including new network build and data-centres in southern east and west Africa, Gateway Business provide managed network services and hosted solutions across all sub-Saharan Africa. Gateway Business has 350 local experts on the ground in Africa who are specialists in Oil & Gas, Banking, Mining and Logistics & Distribution, supporting a customer base of over 2,000 corporations.

Gateway Business is wholly owned by Vodacom Group Limited, which is listed on the JSE Limited under the symbol VOD. To find out more, please visit www.gatewaycomms.com

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with one of the world’s most connected IP networks to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely connect today’s extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees – enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world’s largest businesses and governments – including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions – rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Alison Merifield | Director, Corporate Communications | africa practice
RB House, 141 Greenway, Greenside, 2193, Johannesburg
Tel: +27 (0)11 022 6565 | Mobile: +27 (0)82 768 9740 | Fax: +27 (0)86 538 2832
Skype: alimerifield | Twitter: @alimerifield | www.africapractice.com

Photo Release — Space Systems/Loral-Built Satellite for SIRIUS XM Radio Successfully Performing Post-Launch Maneuvers

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:20:00 +0000

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 18, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), the leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that XM-5, a satellite that it provided to SIRIUS XM Radio, America's satellite radio company, is performing post-launch maneuvers according to plan. The satellite's solar arrays deployed on schedule last week, following a successful launch on Thursday from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan aboard a Proton Breeze M launch vehicle provided by International Launch Services (ILS). The satellite fired its main thruster twice since that time to begin maneuvering into geosynchronous orbit.

A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=8176

Read more on GlobeNewswire via Yahoo! Finance

Wildblue Satellite Connectivity To Reckon With

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:17:00 +0000

By: Wildblue internet

If you are defence personnel even in war hit areas, a businessman, a corporate, a specialist in any field or a house resident in city or rural based subscribe to the economical package of Wildblue internet. It is free of telephone connectivity but fulfils all the services of a broadband with better speed. The spectrum of geographical area coverage through the satellite is gigantic. A survey for the service provider sometimes becomes essential as the variable factors such as volume of data, expenditure, interference or intermissions in the service when on travel mode. But with Wildblue satellite operating on customized satellites for telecommunication these doubts subsides. The whole system works on digital signal processing using link optimization. It boasts of quick network distribution with elasticity of sites in any areas at anytime with suspension.

SATCOM Solutions Corporation - Satellite system engineering house

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:12:00 +0000

SSC's experience is unsurpassed in the Satellite Industry and has been providing Satellite Communication solutions to the world since late 1990. SSC has over 200 man years experience in this specialized field. Our services are provided from the project inception and proposal all the way to implementation and successful completion.

SSC's provide expert systems engineering, installation, training, system design, link budgets, equipment specification, equipment selection, site design including civil engineering, equipment and system test specifications, and integration and commissioning of Satellite Earth Stations Facilities and ancillary satellite equipment, including VSAT networks. SSC also provides after sales support. SSC provides complete Digital Circuit Multiplication Equipment (DCME) solutions to substantially reduce operating expenses for our customers. SSC represents most of the major leading equipment suppliers in the world, thus providing the most "cost-effective" technically viable solutions. SSC are well respected in the industry for "Fast-Track" implementation.

Today, SATCOM Solutions Corporation is the leading satellite system engineering house in Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa. This expertise has been built-up over the previous 19 years experience. During this time, an excellent working relationship has been fostered with all the leading suppliers of earth station and ancillary equipment. SSC has exclusive distributor agreements with many of our suppliers.

This, together with our wealth of engineering expertise, gives us the ability to provide a "cost-effective" state-of-the-art solution for our valued clients.

SSC and our channel partner, STSC in South Africa, are the largest stocking distributors of satellite equipment in Africa that includes the following products:

• SATELLITE EARTH STATIONS: SSC offers satellite earth stations from F1 to Standard A satellite earth stations. Recent turnkey projects include various 11M earth stations equipped with 750 watt outdoor power amplifiers.
• BLOCK UP CONVERTER (BUC): The Terrasat latest smart BUC technology now offers an internet access port to allow the customer full access to the internet with remote monitor and control of the earth station through the internet. The L-Band interface reduces the cost of a satellite earth station dramatically.

• MODEMS: We stock a compliment of Comtech/EF Data modems ranging from IF to IP interface with the latest IP Turbo code in a wide range of coding schemes to give the customer maximum bandwidth savings. The new CDM-625 Carrier in Carrier modem is now available that yields a 50% bandwidth savings with a typical payback period of less than 3 months. Comtech/EF Data now also offers LDPC technology that reduces the required bandwidth further and allows the savings even between large and small antennas.

• VIPERSAT: The latest in VSAT technology over IP allows the customer to use Vipersat in a TDMA mode for data, fax and FTP. Vipersat switch to a SCPC channel when using Voice, Video and Encryption to give the customer the bandwidth that he requires. The system switch back to TDMA when the bandwidth is no longer required, thereby saving bandwidth. Vipersat is a "Hubless" system and therefore offers a low cost solution for a VSAT system with less than 200 terminals. The IP interface allows the customer to make maximum use of the new IP technology equipment on the market.

• SWITCH: The Quintech switch provide switching of L-Band and IF from any port, or combinations of ports to any output port in any combination up to 128 x 128. This includes fan in and fan out switch configurations. It is no longer necessary for any Teleport to use lossy splitters and dividers that are unsightly.

• VIDEO: The NTT encoders compress Video to MPEG-4 standard and allows the user to save bandwidth when transmitting video over satellite. SSC supplied this technology for the FIFA 2010 games in South Africa.

• TRANSCEIVERS: A range of C and KU Band transceivers are available from our stock with SSPA's. A FSK channel is available between the modem and the transceiver to allow the customer remote monitor and control over the satellite link.

• POWER AMPLIFIERS: A range of CPI TWT amplifiers are available ranging from 100 watt to 2.2 KW. The power amplifiers are available for indoor rack mounting and outdoor mounted. The most popular power amplifier in the range is the 750 watt outdoor amplifier.

• COMPRESSION EQUIPMENT: The Veraz compression equipment is offered with up to 20:1 compression at toll quality. SSC stock these terminals for immediate delivery.

• IP GATEWAYS: SSC stocks Veraz IP Gateways with a 12:1 compression.
• SOFT SWITCH: SSC supplied the Veraz soft switch to a major GSM operator and provide full after sales maintenance and support.

• OPTIMIZATION: The Celtro DMT optimization product line is being supplied to the three major GSM carriers in South Africa. This project was initiated from inception field trials to final deployment and commissioning. A comprehensive 24 X 7 on site support maintenance program is provided with mandatory response times.

• ANTENNAS: SSC offers a wide variety of antennas from various manufacturers. The most popular antennas that SSC stocks is the Prodelin 1.8-meter, 2.4-meter and 3.8-meter with the Andrew 4.8-meter antenna. The Andrew 9.3-meter Standard B antennas are available for quick delivery to our customers. also offer VertexRSI 11-meter and 13-meter antennas.

CUSTOMER BASE: The Company customer base include all the major carriers in the African region such as Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, Transtel, South African Defense Force and Foreign Affairs. The customer base in Sub Sahara Africa includes Angola, Congo DRC, Congo B, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Gabon, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia to name a few. The Company has several supply contracts in place with the major carriers in the region and has received approximately 80% of Telkom SA International satellite budget for several years.

FACILITIES: In Africa, the company is located next to the Telkom NOCC in the prestigious Techno Park in Pretoria. The facilities includes a 1,000 Sq. meter building that house offices, conference facilities, a systems integration area, test and repair laboratory and stockroom facilities. This includes satellite earth stations to allow us to do live field trials and to monitor and control existing installations throughout Africa.

In the United States, the company is located in the Westlake Commerce Center in Westlake Village, California. will be moving to a larger facility, in the near future, to better serve our customers and this will allow us an equally modern facility to our sister facility in South Africa.

MAINTENANCE: SSC offers on site equipment maintenance support and have a 24 X 7 technical hotline for our customers.

REPAIR: SSC offers a repair capability for the equipment that SSC sell. The Company repair laboratory is equipped with a comprehensive range of test equipment calibrated to international standards that cover from 1 GHz to 14 GHZ and manufacturer recommended special test fixtures. The SSC repair facility is factory certified and the staff is factory trained and certified to allow us to perform warranty repairs and equipment upgrades for our customers.

AFTER SALES SUPPORT: SATCOM provides after sales support for all the products that we sell and our personnel are factory trained on the products that we sell. SATCOM has several long term maintenance contracts in place with the large carriers which include mandatory response times and require that we stock spares and complete float assemblies to ensure proper support for the equipment.

The SATCOM repair laboratory is equipped with a range of RF and digital test equipment that is calibrated traceable to international standards. SATCOM provides the following:
• Actively market our channel partner products.
• Install and commission the products when so required by the customers.
• Provide maintenance and after sales support for the products.
• Provide operator and technical training for the products.

from : http://satxom.com

Top 10 Books About Satellite Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:50:00 +0000

There are many great books that have been written about satellites through the years from the origins of how we put them into orbit to how the industry has evolved. Even the use of satellite dishes for satellite tv services has evolved significantly over the last 20 years. It used to be that satellite dishes were only for very wealthy individuals that just wanted to have something better than the guy next door. Now, they are very much mainstream. I hope this short list of 10 books on satellite technologies well wet your appetite and keep you coming back for more.

1. Communication Satellite Antennas: System Architecture, Technology, and Evaluation by Robert Dybdal (2009). This is a very current book and a great resource on antenna technologies (satellite dishes in our case). Bob (the author) holds several patents in the space around adaptive antennas, antenna tracking, satellite transponder architectures, and microwave components.

2. Satellite Communications Systems: Systems, Techniques and Technology by Gerard Maral (2010). This is the fifth edition of this book and is great mostly because it covers all facets of satellite communications. If you want a detailed understanding of how several technologies come together to provide satellite services then this book is the resource for you.

3. Satellite Communications Systems Engineering: Atmospheric Effects, Satellite Link Design and System Performance (Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing) by Dr. Louis J. Ippolito (2008). This one is interesting because it discusses the impacts of radio waves and the atmosphere on satellite transmissions and equipment. Dr. Ippolito has a remarkable career including teaching satellite engineering at The George Washington University and doing satellite research for NASA

4. Introduction to Satellite Communication (Artech House Space Applications) by Bruce R. Elbert (2008). Even if you aren’t a heavy technologist you will be able to follow along with this book. In fact, it may be the best starting point if you are fairly new to satellite technologies. It will cover all the fundamentals of satellites from ground control systems to more advanced topics.

5. Satellite Communications by Timothy Pratt (2002). This is one of the older books in this list but it is one that covers the bases well (560 pages). It has chapters on orbital mechanics, modulation techniques, and a lot more. You will find this one to be a tougher read but worth the struggle.

6. Satellites And The Internet: Challenges And Solutions by D.C. Palter (2004). This one has a completely different slant as it is written for satellite professionals that want to get a better understanding of how the Internet works from basic TCP/IP up through leveraging satellite bandwidth. It’s a great book to read if you are interested in satellite internet technologies.

7. Intorduction to Satellite Systems, Technology Basics, Market Growth, Systems, and Services by Ben Levitan and Lawrence Harte (2003). This book covers both the technologies as well as the business side of the rapid explosion of satellite technologies. Levitan and Harte both have a lot of experience in the space and have done a great job of balancing the book between technologies and commercial aspects of the industry

8. Space as a Strategic Asset by Joan Johnson-Freese (2007). To me, this book is interesting because it covers the political issues surrounding how we use Space and who has the right to put satellites in orbit, what you can do with satellites, etc. It’s a very interesting look at space exploration and satellite technologies.

9. The ARRL Satellite Handbook by Steve Ford (2009). This is for those satellite radio enthusiasts out there. It discusses amateur radio satellites and various different satellite tracking methods. It’s a great book and a relatively quick read that you will probably look at multiple times, learning something new each time.

10. The Satellite Technology Guide for the 21st Century by Virgil Labrador (2008). I just really like the cover of this book for starters (reminds me of some great science fiction books I have read over the years). This is your first reading assignment and one that you really need to own it clearly explains satellite technologies in non-technical terms. Simply a great starting point for anyone jumping into satellite technologies.

Source from: http://www.satellitedish.org

Long March launches fifth GPS satellite for China

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:12:00 +0000

China launched its fifth satellite as part of its GPS satellite navigation system, with BeiDou-2 IGSO-1 placed into orbit via the CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (CZ3A-17/Y16) launch vehicle. Launch from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province occured at 5:30am local time on Sunday.

The satellite that was launched is the first BeiDou-2 IGSO (Inclined GSO) satellite of the system. This constellation of satellites will eventually consist of 35 vehicles, including 27 MEO satellites, 5 GSO satellites and 3 IGSO. The satellites will transmit signals on the following carrier frequencies: 1195.14-1219.14 MHz, 1256.52-1280.52 MHz, 1559.05-1563.15 MHz and 1587.69-1591.79 MHz, notably overlaying the Galileo PRS band and the GPS M-code.

The Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS) is China’s second-generation satellite navigation system capable of providing continuous, real-time passive 3D geo-spatial positioning and speed measurement.

The system will initially used to provide high-accuracy positioning services for users in China and its neighboring regions, covering an area of about 120 degrees longitude in the Northern Hemisphere. The long-term goal is to develop a global navigation satellite network similar to the GPS and GLONASS.

Like their American and Russian counterparts, CNSS will have two types of services; a civilian service that will provide an accuracy of 10 meters in the user position, 0.2 m/s on the user velocity and 50 nanoseconds in time accuracy; and the military and authorized users service, providing greater accuracy.

The first phase of the project will provide for the coverage of the Chinese territory, ahead of the future use of the Compass constellation for the entire globe.

Previous BeiDou satellites were launched on October 30, 2000 ‘BeiDou-1A’ (Catalogue Number: 26599 International Designation: 2000-069A); December 20, 2000 ‘BeiDou-1B’ (26643 2000-082A); May 24, 2003 ‘BeiDou-1C’ (27813 2003-021A); February 2, 2007 ‘BeiDou-1D’ (30323 2007-003A); April 13, 2007 ‘BeiDou-2 Compass-M1′ (31115 2007-011A); April 14, 2009 ‘BeiDou-2 Compass-G2′ (34779 2009-018A), January 16 ‘BeiDou-2 Compass-G1′ (36287 2010-001A) and June 2, 1010 ‘BeiDou-2 Compass-G3′ (36590 2010-024A).

China used their CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A launch vehicle to loft BeiDou-2 IGSO-1 uphill. The CZ-3A is a large-scale three-stage liquid launch vehicle, which has inherited the matured technology of the CZ-3 Chang Zheng-3.

An upgraded liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic third stage has been developed to enable CZ-3A performing greater geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) capability. The CZ-3A is equipped with a more flexible and sophisticated control system which supports substantial attitude adjustments to orient the payloads before spacecraft separation and provides adjustable satellite spin-up rotation rate.

It has paved the way for the development of CZ-3B Chang Zheng-3B and CZ-3C Chang Zheng-3C, and become the workhorse of GTO launches for China.

The CZ-3A can also be used for LEO, SSO and polar orbit missions, as well as dual-launch and multiple-launch missions. The launch capacity of the CZ-3A to GTO is 2.650 kg, the lift-off mass is 241.000 kg, the overall length is 52.5 meters, the diameter of first stage and second stage is 3.35 meters, the diameter of third stage is 3.0 meters, and the maximum fairing diameter is 3.35 meters.

The first stage and second stage of CZ-3A employ storable propellants, i.e. unsymmetrical dimethy1 hydrazine (UDMH) and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), and the third stage uses cryogenic propellants, i.e. liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX).

On the first stage, the CZ-3A uses a DaFY6-2 engine with a 2961.6 kN thrust, while the second stage is equipped with a DaFY20-1 main engine (742 kN) and four DaFY21-1 vernier engines (11.8 kN each). The third stage is equipped with two YF-75 engines (78.5 kN each).

The fairing diameter of the CZ-3A is 3,35 meters and has a length of 8.89 meters.

CZ-3A consists of rocket structure, propulsion system, control system, telemetry system, tracking and safely system, coast phase propellant management and attitude control system, cryogenic propellant utilization system, separation system and auxiliary system, etc.

The CZ-3A has a 100 percent launch success rate since its maiden flight on February 8, 1994 when it successfully launched two experimental satellites. And it was awarded the ‘Gold Launch Vehicle’ title by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in June 2007.

China used a CZ-3A to successfully launch the Chang’e-1 lunar satellite on October 24, 2007, which indicated that has taken a substantial step for lunar exploration.

This was the 125th successful Chinese orbital launch, the 124th launch of a Chang Zheng launch vehicle, the 54th successful orbital launch from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center, the third successful orbital launch from the Xi Chang in 2010 and the fifth successful orbital launch from China in 2010.

Equipped with two launch pads (LC2 and LC3), the centre has a dedicated railway and highway lead directly to the launch site. The Command and Control Centre is located seven kilometers south-west of the launch pad, providing flight and safety control during launch rehearsal and launch.

Other facilities on the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Centre are the Launch Control Centre, propellant fuelling systems, communications systems for launch command, telephone and data communications for users, and support equipment for meteorological monitoring and forecasting.

The first launch from Xi Chang took place at 12:25UTC on January 29, 1984, when the CZ-3 Chang Zheng-3 (CZ3-1) launched the Shiyan Weixing (14670 1984-008A) communications satellite into orbit. The launch of the new BeiDou-2 satellite was the 52nd successful orbital launch from Xi Chang.

Source : NASASpaceFlight.com

Gateway Business Selects Cisco for MPLS Network across Sub Saharan Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:07:00 +0000

LAGOS, Nigeria - 20 July, 2010: Gateway Business, a Vodacom Group company and leading supplier of African telecommunications services, has selected Cisco for its multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. This deployment means that Cisco technology solutions will drive an IP next generation network (NGN) for Gateway Business, employing intelligent MPLS technologies.

By utilizing Cisco technology, Gateway Business is able to use MPLS at the core of its pan-African network and a blend of fiber, wireless or satellite at the access level. Gateway Business is one of the largest independent providers of secure, high speed, reliable bandwidth services in Africa. Over 1,500 multi-national corporations rely on Gateway to deliver business critical information between head quarters and branch offices from simple voice solutions, to private MPLS virtual private networks (VPNs) and internet access.

In Nigeria, Gateway Business is deploying a national MPLS network, rolling out wireless broadband services across 36 different states in 2010 and 2011.

Gateway Communications, the group’s Carrier Services and Wholesale division, is also an investor in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), which will bring additional capacity in to Nigeria by June 2011. Through this agreement with Cisco Gateway will be able to immediately deploy a range of new services for customers in Nigeria, West Africa, and across the African continent.

10 Satellite Companies That Failed Miserably

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Over the last 30 years there have been several satellite companies that have had their share of struggles as they tried to be the first to master this technology and monetize it by bringing key home services to market (satellite TV, radio, and Internet specifically). Some companies made it through their turbulent times like Sirius XM and others just died a silent death like Primestar (absorbed into an industry giant). We thought it would be interesting to take a look at 10 satellite companies that failed miserably. If you think we need to add more to the list, place a comment and let us read your arguments.

1. Sirius XM – Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio merged in 2007 to become Sirius XM. When they combined they had over 18.5 million subscribers and growing. They seemed to be the invincible king of satellite radio until they issued a warning for the company to prepare for Bankruptcy in February of 2009. Eventually this led to them being owned by Liberty Media (which owns 49% of DIRECTV). All of the Sirius XM broadcasting was cancelled and replaced with offering from SonicTap.

2. Iridium, LLC – This is a satellite phone company that was originally founded in November of 1998 and the first Iridium call made was by then-Vice President of the U.S., Al Gore. They launched their satellite (and some spares) and it was a rocky start by 1999 they were in chapter 11 bankruptcy. Today they are doing better with quite a few subscribers (over 320,000) and are bouncing back. So this one is definitely not a complete failure, it just failed at least once out of the gate.

3. Primestar – This was a really good satellite TV service that failed and eventually sold its assets in 1999 to Hughes Network Systems which later evolved into DIRECTV. They originally broadcasted in analog but converted over to digital technology before eventually losing the battle for subscribers to DIRECTV and Dish Network. I actually was a Primestar customer and really resented being forced to move to DIRECTV.

4. ASkyB – American Sky Broadcasting was a joint venture of NewsCorp and MCI Worldcom. They were at one point being courted by Primestar and would have possibly kept Primestar alive. There is nothing specific about ASkyB that makes it a failure aside from the opportunity to keep a third viable satellite television provider alive. The assets were purchased late in 1998 by Echostar (Dish Network).

5. AlphaStar – This was a direct-to-home satellite TV service for the U.S. developed by a Canadian company called Tee-Comm Electronics. It started in July 1996 and got up to about 40,000 subscribers before finally succumbing to bankruptcy in September 1997. It had a short life and you can read more about it here.
6. St.GIGA – in 1990 they became the first satellite radio company in the World and regular broadcasting really commenced in 1991. This was partially supported by Nintendo and they broadcast only in Japan. Unfortunately despite even venturing into gaming, they just couldn’t make a go of it and eventually its satellite broadcast certificate was revoked.

7. Globalstar went through a chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003 but was originally launched in 1997 as a joint venture between Loral Corporation and Qualcomm. After the restructuring and emergence of a new primary owner in Thermo Capital Partners, LLC though Globalstar, Inc. was born and remains a fully functional organization with over 300,000 subscribers. It mainly focuses on satellite phone and some data usages.

8. VOOM – What is really interesting about VOOM is the fact that it was actually launched by Cablevision (yes the cable TV giant). There was apparently a big dispute in 2005 between Charles Dolan (the founder of Cablevision) and a few board members who wanted to shutdown VOOM. It resulted in the servicing being shutdown later that year and the assets being sold to EchoStar (Dish Network).

9. United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) – This was founded by Hubbard Broadcasting in 1981 (specifically by Stanley S. Hubbard). This was one of the first satellite television companies and considered by most to be the pioneer in the industry. They broadcast most of the major American premium channels and really made a name for themselves. It never really failed but eventually was absorbed into DIRECTV. So the only real failure is not getting credit for what they accomplished and then later being dissolved into another system.

10. Protostar went bankrupt in June of 2009 (filed for chapter 11 protection). The largest customer of this satellite company is Dish TV India Limited, the largest television operator in India. Eventually it went up on the auction block later in the year (October 2009) and was purchased by Intelsat Corp. for $210 million. It obviously had valuable assets but couldn’t capitalize on those assets.

From : satellitedish.org

10 Things to Love About Satellite TV

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:13:00 +0000

It’s hard to imagine really loving a TV service, right? Well, let’s take it down a notch and talk about things that you can really, really like about satellite TV. When we say satellite TV we are talking mostly about Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite TV services. So we are comparing FTA satellite TV to cable TV or public television.

1. You control the quality of TV reception. If you want to get a really strong signal then you basically spend as much as you want on the equipment you need to get yourself the very best picture you can have. Try getting your cable TV company to care about your picture… it’s not fun.

2. You own the equipment. You own your own satellite dish and don’t have to pay a monthly rental or service fee. This is certainly true in the case of FTA satellite TV. You can also lease satellite TV equipment, but it’s rare.

3. It’s easy to setup. So you don’t have to wait for the cable guy to come to your house in a 4 or 8-hour window. As soon as your equipment comes in you can install it yourself (optionally you can call a tech out but it’s really simple now for most systems).

4. More international channels are available to you. When you choose satellite TV especially FTA you get a wide variety of international channels to choose from that you cannot get any other way.

5. Everyone can get Satellite TV. In some cases the only type of quality TV services you can get is satellite TV. This is especially true if you live in remote areas of the country. The U.S. government also passed a law giving you the right to satellite TV so make sure you are aware of that right.

6. You get to be a little geeky/nerdy. For whatever reason, even though it’s much simpler now. When you get your satellite TV service up and running you feel a sense of accomplishment that is hard to understand until you have done it for yourself.

7. You pick your channels. If you don’t like the current channels your satellite is picking up then point it at a different satellite and voila! More channels.

8. Cable TV lines down. If your local cable company has problems with their lines (say a storm knocks down trees, etc.) you don’t lose your TV. Since you are pointing at satellites assuming the satellite doesn’t vanish, your service is still intact.

9. Junk channels are less of a problem. You don’t have to fight with the family over channels like MTV, HBO, VH1, etc. Most of the channels that you aren’t going to miss aren’t available via FTA.
10. Educational channels are widely available. There are far more educational channels available on FTA than most networks and without the junk channels as noted above your chances are better that your family will be watching something that is keeping them more informed and less influenced by pop culture.

There are lots of great resources out there for FTA, but one of the best is the ultimate channel guide for FTA located here. We think satellite TV is something that most people love after they get for many different reasons. Why not give it a try?
Source from : satellitedish.org

Gateway Business Africa Upgrades Core Network in East and West Africa with ECI Telecom

noreply@blogger.com (Rhino Hamuq) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:07:00 +0000

London, June 22, 2010 – Gateway Business, a subsidiary of Vodacom, has announced continued investment in its networks across East and West Africa. Gateway Business selected ECI Telecom, a global provider of networking infrastructure solutions, for the network upgrade on both national and pan-African networks.

ECI’s next generation XDM® multi-service provisioning platform will enable Gateway Business to deliver better node-to-node connection on Gateway’s pan-African network. The platform’s integrated management tools will also be able to carry out easy provisioning, better network protection, monitoring and maintenance for enterprise and wholesale customers.

ECI’s solution is also being used to carry Gateway’s international capacity on SAT3 that currently services the West coast of Africa. This investment is in anticipation of the West Africa Cable System (WACS) due in Nigeria in June 2011. Gateway Business, through its parent Vodacom, is a significant investor in the WACS cable with the right to land its own international capacity in Nigeria.

For SEACOM landing stations, Gateway Business has deployed ECI’s solution to carry the full capacity of its SEACOM network servicing the East coast of Africa. The network upgrade also includes a bond between Gateway’s East and West African networks through its European Backbone, effectively creating a submarine fibre ring network around the African continent.

In Nigeria, Gateway Business is currently upgrading the backbone network for inter-city, inter-state as well as the nationwide protected fibre rings. The investment further supports Gateway’s vision of providing Broadband Wireless Access and Managed Network Services throughout Nigeria. ECI supports Gateway’s vision of promoting advanced telecom solutions in Nigeria and across Africa, through the company’s 1Net framework for network optimisation and migration. With extensive experience in developing markets, ECI is in the premier position to partner with Gateway Business in these projects.

“We are seeing increasing demand for capacity between East and West Africa as carriers respond to business demand,” said Guy Clarke, Managing Director, Gateway Business Nigeria. “As a pan-African business services provider, we continue to make significant investments in our entire network to meet both current and future demand. Nigeria is without doubt Africa’s largest telecoms market and we continue to invest in infrastructure in Nigeria as we build-out our national terrestrial network allowing more business and enterprise customers access to terrestrial services both nationally and internationally. The construction of this network is the first step in realising our vision of being a significant provider of managed network services in the country.”

Source from : africapractice.com