Gilat to provide satellite telephony network to Tata Tele

NEW DELHI: Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. is providing Tata Teleservices (TTL)

with a 1,000-site fixed rural satellite telephony network to serve communities

throughout Andhra Pradesh. When completed, the network will be one of the

largest known deployments of satellite rural telephony in India — with a

private, basic service operator.






The new network, based on Gilat’s DialAw@y IP VSAT product, will serve public
payphone and fax kiosks, supporting the needs of agricultural workers and other

inhabitants of Andhra Pradesh. It will enable TTL to fulfill its Universal

Service Obligations under its license agreement with India’s Department of

Telecommunications for the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the future, TTL expects

to use the network to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to many of those

sites.






Deployment of the DialAw@y IP network has begun and is expected to reach
completion in the third quarter of 2002. TTL Plans to upgrade the satellite hub

station to enable data capabilities and to offer broadband Internet access to

selected towns in the state.






DialAw@y IP is one of the only VSAT products capable of providing high-speed
Internet connectivity and toll-quality telephony service at the same time. Each

unit supports a PC/LAN connection and up to six telephone lines. 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. According to the 2001 Comsys Report,

Gilat has 78.6 percent of the global market share for rural applications,

combining telephony and high-speed Internet.