[SatNews] Providing communications and terminals is the result of this major contract win...
Hughes Communications India, Ltd. (HCIL), a provider of broadband satellite and managed network services in India and a majority owned subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), has announced two significant contract wins in relation to the Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) for the states of Rajashthan and Karanataka. The first contract was awarded for Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (Jaipur Discom) in Rajasthan, under which Hughes will provide broadband satellite services connecting 825 locations. The second contract was awarded for the five utility companies in Karnataka (BESCOM, CESCOM, MESCOM, GESCOM and HESCOM) to deploy a network of 713 satellite terminals where Hughes is the secondary network bandwidth service provider.
The mandate for Hughes across both states is to expand the R-APDRP solutions platform to urban as well as rural areas. The Rajasthan and the Karnataka agreements have been signed on for 3 years and 5 years respectively. Hughes satellite broadband products use the IPoS (IP over Satellite)/DVB-S2 standard for satellite transmission which has the ability to provide differentiated and prioritized services to individual remote terminals. HCIL has proven experience in connecting SCADA-type applications which not only provides a high level of availability and accurate real-time monitoring, but also ensures that the solutions provided are robust enough to withstand harsh conditions. DISCOM, with more than 30 percent AT&C losses, have been mandated to reduce these losses by 3 percent every year; however, where AT&C is below 30 percent, the DISCOM have to reduce their losses by 1.5 percent every year.
The government of India has proposed to continue R-APDRP in the current plan with revised terms and conditions as a Central Sector Scheme. The focus of the program will be on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained loss reduction. Establishment of reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate base line data, and the adoption of information technology in the areas of energy accounting, will be essential before taking up the regular distribution strengthening projects. The R-APDRP is proposed to cover urban areas―towns and cities―with population of more than 30,000.
