[SatNews] Smart, the East African mobile operator, has signed global satellite operator Avanti Communications to deliver IP backhaul services in East Africa.
Owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Smart will deploy the satellite-based service to customers in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda. Designed to complement sub-sea fibre networks, Avanti Communications’ IP backhaul service enables operators to keep pace with market growth cost effectively.
Smart’s parent company is Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) Kenya, which in turn is part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).
- AKFED has been funding social enterprises across East Africa for decades – making long-term investments with the aim of building economically sound businesses that create employment and improve lives
- Smart’s approach is to bring AKFED’s social enterprise business model and reputation for innovation and customer service to telecommunications in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda
- AKFED will leverage more than ten years of telecommunications experience to make Smart East Africa’s operator of choice
- Together with AKFED’s other entities, Smart has extensive experience in emerging markets, particularly in East Africa
Avanti Communications is a carriers’ carrier, selling wholesale data telecoms to service providers which use them to create networks for enterprise, carrier, government and consumer users.
- Avanti Communications’ network consists of:- two high throughput satellites in orbit, called HYLAS 1 and HYLAS 2; a multiband satellite called Artemis plus a fourth satellite in construction called HYLAS 3 and an international fibre network connecting data centres in several countries
- Avanti Communications has GEO satellite network spectrum filings in the ITU Master Register for Ka band at 33.5 degrees West and 31.0 degrees East and for Ka-, Ku-, S- and L-band at 21.5 degrees East.
- Avanti Communications serves customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa
For more information regarding Smart, please visit http://www.smarteastafrica.com/
The Avanti Communications infosite is available at http://www.avantiplc.com/