Photo: ST Engineering iDirect

Gilat Telecom and ST Engineering iDirect have deployed a cellular backhaul network in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Vodacom, the companies announced Tuesday. The companies installed two Newtec Dialog hubs to power cellular backhaul services. The network is used primarily for cellular backhaul services, for applications such as social media, video sharing platforms, as well as enterprise applications such as video conferencing and data transfer applications, with some sites also offering IP services.

The new hubs will enable Vodacom to migrate its VSAT-based 2G network to 3G across 150 base transceiver station sites with the base station controller located in Kinshasa. The new deployment replaces traditional Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) links and increases efficiency in facilitating 3G data traffic.

“Thanks to its Mx-DMA return technology, the reliability of the VSAT links has increased significantly, especially in heavy rain. As a consequence, we have also seen an increase in user traffic on the links migrated to Dialog. Additionally, in comparison with SCPC links, we have also noticed that Dialog enables us to perform network changes much more easily and rapidly, with less human resources and no intervention on remote sites. This has enabled us to operate more efficiently and make substantial cost savings,” Jean-Bedel Nyanga, transmission director of Vodacom DRC said in a statement.