Gilat Telecom announced today that its long-term customer, Orange, has ordered more satellite capacity across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to meet increasing demand for broadband and cellular services across all sectors in the country.

Last year Orange DRC acquired Tigo DRC to expand and enhance its offering in the DRC which has a population of some 80 million and mobile internet penetration of 55.7% according to figures from analysts BuddeComm,

Gilat Telecom, and its local partner Raga Sat, were previously providing 400Mb to Orange; this has now increased to 1Gb which will be used to provide capacity to the following operations of Orange: International Data, domestic and cellular backhaul networks.

This new deal with Orange cements Gilat Telecom’s position as one of the most reliable and cost-effective connectivity providers in Africa. Last year Gilat Telecom was named as the Best African Satellite Provider in recognition of its ongoing investment in the development of a whole host of innovative technologies across both its satellite and fiber networks.

Gilat Telecom has been providing broadband connectivity to enterprises and ISPs in the DRC since 2008.  Its partner Raga S.p.r.l is one of only three licensed hub operators in the country. Gilat Telecom uses O3b’s unique ‘Fiber in the Sky’ satellite network into the DRC which offers latency and throughput comparable to fiber.

Dan Zajicek, CEO of Gilat Telecom, said “This is an extremely large deal for the region which we won for a variety of reasons including our award-winning service and ability to meet large capacity requirements. We are providing Orange with diverse routing options so that its vital network is stable and always-on.  We will continue to invest in both our staff and our infrastructure so that we will always be able to offer the best possible connectivity service to our customers.”