Equant Launches Two
New Satellite VPN Access Offerings
(23 February 2004) Equant is
launching two new satellite offerings - Dedicated Satellite Access and IP
Satellite Access - for multinational organisations with remote sites.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands has
selected Equant's Dedicated Satellite Access service as part of a five-year IP
VPN deal announced last July. The Dedicated Satellite Access will provide
secure, cost-effective VPN access for 40 of the Ministry's 160 embassies and
consulates in areas where terrestrial links are more difficult and expensive.
During 2004, Equant will show its ability to deliver services that conform to
the Ministry's expectations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France
plans to migrate its existing satellite network to Equant's IP Satellite
Access. Details of the agreement will be announced in the coming weeks.
Another foreign ministry has signed up for a pilot of Dedicated Satellite
Access, and other organisations have expressed strong interest in the new
services. A total of 16 major governmental organisations and foreign ministries
are currently Equant customers.
Both new satellite VPN offerings are
targeted for multinational organisations and corporations with sites in remote
areas, especially Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The two services
are fully integrated into Equant's IP VPN suite of services as standard remote
access methods. They further enhance Equant's Fixed Access portfolio, which
provides consistent, secure and needs-based solutions for access using a
variety of access methods, including Equant Leased Lines, DSL Access and WLL
Services. The satellite services provide secure VPN access with performance
guarantees at lower prices than terrestrial alternatives in many remote
regions. Both leverage world-wide framework agreements with Intelsat and France
Telecom, which provide the necessary high-speed satellite bandwidth.
Dedicated Satellite Access:
Dedicated Satellite Access extends the reach of
Equant IP VPN and Equant LAN Access by offering dedicated satellite access with
all the features available on a terrestrial VPN line, including class of
service (CoS) traffic prioritisation and service level agreements (SLAs) to
guarantee performance. This service provides the satellite equivalent of a
terrestrial leased line, with SCPC (single channel per carrier) Clear Channel
technology and standard Cisco routers deployed at customer premises to support
high-speed, secure access to IP VPN and LAN Access. It operates at committed
rates of 64 kb/s to 2 Mb/s and is available immediately in more than 100
countries.
IP Satellite Access:
IP Satellite Access provides
shared satellite VPN access to meet similar functionality requirements as
Dedicated Satellite Access. It operates over a packet-switched satellite
network with capacity shared between all sites. Lower pricing is possible
because of the shared-capacity features offered by the Idirect NetModem II
Broadband Router, considered the leading self-contained terminal for satellite
IP communications. IP Satellite Access offers similar features as dedicated
access, including cost-effective traffic prioritisation and performance
guarantees. It operates at committed speeds of 16-256 kb/s with a committed
bursting speed of 2 Mb/s. The service is scheduled for world-wide availability
in April 2004.
(source: Equant)
