Gilat Satellite Networks has announced completion of a dedicated project for satellite-based web connectivity to support Russia's national presidential elections held March 4, 2012. Gilat was selected for the project by Russian-based service provider RTComm, the satellite service arm of Rostelecom Group, Russia's national telecommunications operator.
Russia's presidential elections were broadcasted online with live video streaming to provide visibility of the election sites, registration tables and ballot boxes. The web based system, for which Gilat provided a significant portion of the satellite based connectivity, was designed to provide Russian citizens, international press and people the world over with real-time access to the election process.
The Russian Ministry of Communications reported that on the day of the presidential elections over 3.5 million viewers accessed the online broadcast of the voting process.
Tasked with enabling the secure and reliable transfer of broadcasting data from the election venues to central servers located around Russia, Gilat provided VSAT connectivity to over 1,600 of the voting sites.
RTComm chose satellite based connectivity as the optimal communication platform for locations lacking terrestrial or high-speed connectivity required for video-based broadcasting. The limited time frame allotted for the project deployment was an additional component in their decision to make satellite-based connectivity for technology solution to provide video-based communication in those locations.
In order to cover the vast geographic spread of the Russian republic and allow sufficient capacity, Satellite resources for the project were provided by seven different satellites, and required the reconfiguration of Gilat's existing eight hubs used by Russian operators and located throughout the country.
"Gilat's delivery of this project is a testament of their ability to successfully execute a national-scale initiative with such stringent timetables and high levels of logistical complexity," said Valery Lokhin, General Director of RTComm.
"Gilat assigned extensive technical resources to accommodate the short delivery timeframe and complex technical requirements of the project. Cross-company teams were dedicated to ensure the high availability of the 1,600 VSATs located in seven different time zones on the crucial election day, supported by 24×7 customer care and real-time troubleshooting throughout the electoral process," said Arie Rozichner, Gilat's RVP Eurasia.
RTComm is a national telecommunication operator in Russia, with its primary focus on providing services based on virtual private networks, data processing centers and satellite access. RTComm is a part of the Rostelecom group.
RTComm is a provider of complete communication solutions for government and corporate clients, as well as for telecommunication operators and Internet service providers. RTComm's backbone network is based on MPLS/VPN technology and has access nodes in all regions of the Russian Federation. Regional representatives: "RTComm-Siberia", "RTComm-South", "RTComm-Volga-Ural".
