Gilat Satcom has launched a portfolio of satellite services, Village-Island, to offer affordable connectivity in rural Africa
According to the company, Village-Island will allow rural inhabitants in Africa to access voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP), video over IP, cellular and Wi-Fi connections via affordable private satellite networks.
The prices for the services would start at USUS$1 per month per customer.
Gilat Satcom director of marketing and business development Eran Yoran said, “We all know that there is demand for both voice and data in even the remotest villages of Africa. However, traditional satellite is still too expensive. Our Village-Island solution has been specifically developed so that entrepreneurs can start a small business by providing a sustainable low-cost service to friends and neighbours.”
Village-Island will be provided by governments, NGOs, network operators and major Internet service providers (ISPs) to a specified group within a rural area, which will act as the Village Nano-ISP.
Village Nano-ISP will then be responsible for selling services directly to individual users in the village and for billing users and paying the monthly service charge to the provider.
