Background
In Somalia, like most of Africa, the majority of customers prefer to connect to the Internet with their mobile device, rather than paying for expensive home-based services. However, many customers are frustrated by unreliable networks, slow connections, and unexpected service drops.
Challenge
To meet the growing demands of the mobile market, one Somali MNO wanted to differentiate its service from the competition by providing the most reliable and stable network for its customers.
The Somali MNO needed a solution where they could connect base stations in major cities to its headquarters, which would enable them to provide crystal clear voice quality along with a reliable, stable Internet stream of up to 2 Gbps capacity over 10 km.
Additionally, the solution needed to be both easy to install and maintain, as well as highly scalable.
Most solutions the Somali MNO investigated proposed microwave technology for point-to-point communication. However, those solutions required multiple, complex installations and complicated maintenance environments. Worst of all, the proposals could not reliably deliver the required service levels to their customers.
The Gilat Telecom Solution
The Somali MNO turned to their trusted advisor, Gilat Telecom, for a solution.
Gilat Telecom provided a turnkey solution that integrated satellite and microwave communication technology, creating a solution that not only delivered reliable, high-quality services to the Somali MNO’s customers, but allowed the MNO to double capacity from 1Gbps to 2Gbps for 10 km.
Communication for the solution was based on a 70/80 GHz frequency. This enabled the Somali MNO to use multiple beams and increase operational flexibility without any interference.
The scalable radio equipment in the solution allows the Somali MNO to easily support future growth without replacing all their hardware. The equipment is plug-and-play, meeting the MNO’s requirement for easy installation and maintenance.
Through Gilat’s solution, the Somali MNO was able to significantly reduce operating expenses, while delivering higher than expected capacity and reliable services to their customers.
