Newtec Dialog, SATSOL Increase Efficiency for Solomon Islands Satellite Customers

Newtec, a specialist in the design, development and manufacture of equipment for satellite communications, has provided a Newtec Dialog® hub system to SATSOL, a teleport and Internet Service Provider (ISP) on the Solomon Islands.

The Newtec Dialog platform will deliver IP connectivity for the Solomon Islands government, with a single hop service from remote islands to the capital, Honiara. SATSOL is currently rolling out the remote sites, initially in ten provincial hub locations. The education system will also benefit as the improved provincial network will be extended to secondary schools.

As one of Solomon Islands’ three Internet Service Providers (ISPs), SATSOL currently provides approximately 20% of the country’s Internet bandwidth. The company owns and operates the highest teleport in Guadalcanal, overlooking the capital city of Honiara, and has built the largest wireless ISP (WISP) network in the country.

“SATSOL is a locally owned company and we know just how important it is to stay connected to the rest of the world and the impact that this can have on quality of life and the economy,” said Antony Ferris, CEO at SATSOL. “The installation of Newtec Dialog has enabled us to replace a double hop link with just a single hop. Newtec’s Mx-DMA® technology has enabled us to optimize our bandwidth usage and to transform the overall user experience in a cost-effective way.”

The Solomon Islands comprises six major islands and more than 900 smaller islands in Oceania. This can present challenges in the provision of Internet connectivity as terrestrial technologies cannot reach remote islands and are cost-prohibitive to install. The government has acknowledged the need to improve Internet and overall ICT provision to the population of the Islands. Its National Development Strategy, which covers a twenty year period from 2016 to 2035, places great emphasis on the ways in which Internet access can contribute to socio-economic development.

“As SATSOL looks to increase Internet penetration across the country, the Newtec Dialog platform can ensure efficient use of bandwidth, cost-effectiveness and scalability, so that the number of remote sites can expand as required,” said Richard Walshe, Newtec Regional Sales Director for the Pacific. “We look forward to helping facilitate the spread of Internet connectivity across the Solomon Islands in order to enable the government to meet its development goals.”

The system was supplied by Newtec’s certified business partner Lumina Broadcast Systems. Peter Warren, MD of Lumina, said: “We were very pleased that SATSOL chose Newtec Dialog. The Newtec team did a great job and had the system installed, configured and on-air in a few days.”

Newtec Mx-DMA is the return technology utilized by Newtec Dialog. This incorporates the best features of MF-TDMA and SCPC technologies and, at the same time, solves the difficult decision of selecting one or the other. Mx-DMA automatically adjusts the frequency plan, symbol rate, modulation, coding and power in real-time for every terminal in the satellite network according to the bandwidth demands and varying link conditions, such as rain fade.