Some may wonder why the U.S. military looked all the way to Australia to find a Teleport to provide them with their highly sensitive, mission critical satellite communications. However, this came as no surprise to Australian Teleport providers, who know they are in a unique position to be able to deliver secure, reliable, undisrupted satellite communications, thanks to their rare and stable landscape.

As a politically and geologically stable country, with low rainfall and mild temperatures, Australia provides the perfect location to house Teleports and satellite infrastructure. Australia is a geographically remote country, ensuring minimal frequency interference. Plus, the country shares a border, albeit at some distance, with the USA via the Pacific Ocean, providing direct cable access (via the Southern Cross Cable Network) to the USA.

Proactive Communications, Inc. (PCI) of the United States required a Teleport operator to provide satellite communications to the U.S. military in Afghanistan and they decided to use an Australian Teleport which could provide the bandwidth required as well as a guarantee of fast, secure, undisrupted connectivity.

Background
PCI is a SatCom provider that delivers reliable and secure enterprise-class communication capabilities to government agencies, military and corporate entities around the world. PCI has become a proven and trusted resource for satellite communications in the most demanding situations and within the harshest of environments.

Objective
PCI is contracted by the U.S. Government to provide vital communications support to the U.S. military in war zones in the Middle East. Mission critical communications in war zones requires constant transmission and delivery of highly sensitive and secure information. A lack of satellite telecommunications bandwidth over Afghanistan and previous attempts to reach Afghanistan through Europe, caused PCI to consider Australia to solve their demanding communication requirements. PCI required a partner who could provide effective breadth of coverage in challenging and remote locations, as well as being able to provide significant depth in satellite and engineering expertise for the ongoing project.

Solution
A custom made system that fitted with PCI’s requirements securely and cost effectively was designed. This enabled PCI to provide critical communication needs in the deployment of rapid tracking terminals, VoIP, unified communication and private secure networks, using state-of-the-art platforms such as ComtechEF Data modems, Teledyne Paradise modems and iDirect DVB-S2 hub technology. C- and Ku- band coverage from NewSat’s Adelaide Teleport and fibre backhaul technology was provided.

The stringent security criteria required for U.S. military operations were met through NewSat’s Australian Adelaide Teleport, one of only a few U.S. Military Accredited Global Access Points, providing unrivaled service coverage in the Middle East. “Our customers are completely reliant on us for satellite communications and meeting their needs in their difficult and dangerous environment is of paramount consideration.” - Marc LeGare, CEO, Proactive Communications.

From a business point of view, as much as from an operational one, aftermarket support was essential to PCI — partnering with an experienced and qualified company eliminated the need for third party consultants and associated costs. Such dramatically improving PCI’s return on investment.

LeGare added, “I can directly attribute a sizable impact on our business having NewSat as our business partner. They have provided the capacity for our growth and I’m able to do about $10M because of their solutions.”