Satellite communications technology company ST Engineering iDirect has announced that its long-standing partner, the Bolivian Space Agency (ABE), has upgraded its satellite ground network.
ABE, operator of the Túpac Katari 1 satellite (TKSAT-1), expects the network upgrade to increase its cellular backhaul service by at least 500 sites in both Ku and Ka-bands and to support the deployment of additional services, including enterprise and IoT.
ST Engineering iDirect’s Dialog hub, installed at the Amachuma ground station in 2019, has already connected 2,000 sites with residential broadband services in Ka-band and multiple enterprise and cellular backhaul services in Ku-band.
The network upgrade will enable ABE to connect even more of the underserved Bolivian population with cost-effective services enabled through the new innovations offered on Dialog.
The Mx-DMA MRC return technology, in combination with the MDM 3-series and MDM 2-series modems, will provide cellular backhaul services to two Bolivian operators. The waveform enables them to leverage its unique capabilities including higher speeds and optimization of bandwidth. Mx-DMA MRC will empower ABE to scale its services while simplifying its operations, sharing capacity seamlessly and efficiently among its user terminals, and satisfying demanding throughput requirements.
ST Engineering iDirect points out that the tremendous rise in mobile phone usage among Bolivian citizens means that cellular backhaul services have become even more crucial to help deliver data services to mobile devices. According to the Bolivian communications regulator, the company adds, some 90% of Bolivians gain internet access via a mobile broadband connection.