Via Satellite illustration.

MetTel shared details on Wednesday of deploying its software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) service using the VMware SD-WAN solution over SpaceX‘s Starlink satellite service. MetTel is a networking company for enterprise customers. 

MetTel said that it collaborated with multiple enterprise clients to deploy SD-WAN technology over the Starlink satellite network to bring high bandwidth communications to remote locations. It said an unnamed “large government agency” and a “leader in the environmental management industry” are active use cases. 

The company said that because Starlink is a low latency system in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), it can transmit high bandwidth without processing needed for traditional satellite. The MetTel Labs team integrated the space-based access paths into its existing terrestrial SD-WAN networks.

“Deployment of earth-based SD-WAN over Starlink will bring business-grade connectivity and network management to every remote location where it’s needed for our clients,” said Fox. “MetTel is thrilled to upgrade the quality of space-based communication while extending the reach of our SD-WAN network to any location worldwide.”

SpaceX has embraced cloud providers like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure for Starlink, and is also working with service providers and serving enterprise customers with the LEO internet service.