Asia-Pacific telecom hires Comtech EF for bandwidth compression services

Comtech EF Data Corp. (a subsidiary of Comtech Telecommunications Corp.) secured an order for bandwidth compression services from a telecommunications service provider in Asia-Pacific worth $1.5 million.

Comtech EF's DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier will facilitate the network expansion of the Asia-Pacific service provider. This will allow the latter to open up bandwidth space to deliver new, affordable services to potential customers inrural villages.

Satellite bandwidth prices in Asia are on the rise. In response, service providers looked for technology solutions that can boost throughput and minimize OPEX. Such solutions allow providers to maintain their competitive edge while also leaving bandwidth room to also offer affordable services to cost-conscious customers.

With Comtech EF's help, the unnamed Asia-Pacific service provider will upgrade their DMD50 Universal Satellite Modems with DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier. Using "Adaptive Cancellation" technology patented by Raytheon Applied Signal Technology, the Comtech EF bandwidth compression solution allows a duplex link's transmit and receive carriers to use the same transponder space.

The DoubleTalk upgrade will allow a single transponder to perform the job of two transponders. This saves money for the service provider, which no longer needs to buy new hardware. And DoubleTalk-upgraded transponders become even more effective when combined with advanced forward error correction and modulation techniques that minimize disruption and improve transmissions.

Considered the world's leading company when it comes to satellite bandwidth efficiency and link optimization, Comtech EF Data Corp. provides advanced satellite communication solutions for very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) systems, bandwidth management, modems, RAN & WAN optimization, and RF products. Comtech EF solutions like the DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier product lets commercial and government customers to boost throughput without breaking the bank.

ITSO receives new mandate, Ugandan President pleads for affordable satellite communications

Last week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museven expressed his hopes that the International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation could use its recently-renewed mandate to make satellite communications services more affordable for landlocked countries.

The Daily Monitor reported that a week-long 35th ITSO Assembly of Parties took place in Kampala, Uganda. Representatives from 85 countries unanimously voted that the ITSO receive another eight-year mandate to oversee, regulate, and ensure price control of global satellite services.


The Assembly participants relied upon the ITSO to shield its member states from exploitation. This went double for landlocked countries like Uganda, which were far more reliant upon satellite communications.

In a speech read on his behalf, President Museven said that Uganda and other landlocked were concerned with the high cost of satellite communications. The Ugandan statesman asked ITSO to come up with ways to decrease the cost of satellite communications services for developing countries.

Most nations make heavy use of submarine cables for high-speed, bandwidth-heavy communications. Uganda and at least 26 other countries are landlocked, however. Their difficulties in accessing those cables and the expense of alternative satellite communications systems have resulted in very irregular and unreliable communications within those nations, which negatively impacted business and slowed down economic development.