Photo: Gilat

Gilat Satellite Networks will provide satellite cellular backhaul services to Southern Linc, a wireless communications provider owned by Southern Company, under the terms of a new three-year contract announced October 19.

Southern Linc will use Gilat’s satellite transmission for backhaul services when established networks are unavailable, extending cellular coverage for voice and high-speed data services in remote and terrestrially challenged areas and in areas affected by severe weather. The agreement requires Gilat to support embedded accelerated MPLS traffic, coupled with cellular 4G with GTP satellite transmission acceleration through the provider’s SkyEdge II-c platform.

Gilat will also provide backup for terrestrial aggregation sites, as well as monitoring and support for Southern Linc’s LTE network.

“We are happy to award the managed service cellular backhaul over satellite contract to Gilat, who was really the only vendor that could meet Southern Linc’s demanding requirements,” said Southern Linc Director of Engineering Alan McIntyre. “Gilat services can help us improve service reliability and coverage particularly in more remote areas, and they will be a great support in times of emergency for our fleet of deployable network assets.”

Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

Unlike other satellite services markets, demand for satellite backhaul has been steady throughout the COVID-19 crisis and recession. Earlier in October, Gilat and its rival competitor Comtech Telecommunications announced that they were terminating an agreement reached in January that would have seen Comtech acquire Gilat and form the industry’s largest satellite backhaul service entity. Comtech agreed to pay Gilat $70 million to settle legal disputes and get out of its acquisition deal.