V-Sat Tech Boost For Business
A new V-SAT (very small aperture terminal) technology called `advanced business communications via satellite' (ABCS) is promising to substantially increase V-SAT use for business applications by offering increased connectivity and lower link-up cost.
The system, developed by a German company, Nortel-DASA is claimed to be the first to provide a fully meshed configuration allowing direct connections between all stations on a network rather than just between two at any one time by conventional systems. The number of hubs and the bandwidth requirement are far less than on rival networks, a company official said.
The system allows unrestricted high speed transfer of data and voice between geographically scattered sites of a user company. It can also be used for multi-media applications.
The system is particularly useful to operators like the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, mining companies and even airlines which have a number of locations that have to be in constant touch with one another and the regional or head office.
The ABCS network can be operated through a Wide area networked computer system for data communication and also be routed through public telephony for voice. Meaning, a user in an off-shore oil well of ONGC can dial a public phone number.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning to offer V-SAT connectivity to large mission critical enterprises like ONGC, power companies, factories, construction sites and others.
External links will also be available but this will have to be routed through the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL).
The uplinking could be on Insat satellites or any other communication satellite using KU band transponders.
Given the size and communication limitations in India, V-SATs for business applications is expected to be a Rs 400-crore market within the next three years.
V-SAT operators offer various communications like DAMA (demand assigned multiple access) and TDMA (time division multiple access). While DAMA can transmit voice, data, fax, picture and video, TDMA is said to be restricted only to Voice and Data. The ABCS network is said to be an advanced TDMA having all the attributes of DAMA.
V-SAT connectivity for business applications has taken over North America, Europe and Japan in a big way as it is much cheaper than conventional telephony. In Asia, V-SAT spread is only 7 per cent compared to 72 per cent in the US. It is estimated that V-SAT connectivity can save business users 40 per cent in communications costs while increasing line fidelity and allowing multiple communication modes in one line.