Spidersat Communications Limited, a subsidiary of ITC Global and a provider of satellite communication services to the mining sector has entered into a long-term agreement with BIA Overseas S.A. (“BIA”), a subsidiary of BIA Group, a company focusing on the distribution of equipment for Mines & Quarrying, Construction, Recycling, Handling and Power Generation.
According to a release, under this contract, Spidersat will provide and support a fully managed, custom designed and built network to BIA’s Outils de Gestion et Societes Africaines mining project, which will entail network connectivity for 17 sites in 13 countries throughout Africa. As a result of Spidersat’s custom network design, the African mining sites of BIA will enjoy carrier-grade Internet, Email, and Voice connectivity and be able to seamlessly access corporate Enterprise Resource Systems (ERP) and other key business applications, which are physically located at a central corporate location in Europe.
By deploying a customized version of Spidersat’s broadband satellite communications system to the various African locations, BIA’s operations will be on a unified platform that will enable performance and network reliability. This custom solution will integrate terrestrial and satellite connectivity and include backup functionality via satellite to ensure connectivity in the case of terrestrial outages. Also embedded in this solution is end to end bandwidth management and WAN Acceleration that will ensure “always on” access to critical business applications that BIA requires.
“We are delighted to work with BIA on this critical project,” said Mike Hennessey, Managing Director of Spidersat. “Spidersat’s deep Africa presence, broad mining experience, and unparalleled capabilities in designing and supporting a customized network position us well to exceed BIA’s needs and expectations. This contract award reinforces that Spidersat continues to be a leading communications provider to the mining industry in Africa.”
“BIA is excited to continue our partnership with Spidersat,” said Francois Melin, Business Controller at BIA Group. “Spidersat’s extensive African presence and sophisticated and highly effective solution differentiated itself from proposals from other vendors, and gave us confidence that Spidersat’s solutions would work effortlessly in the remote locations and harsh environments where we operate. I look forward to leveraging Spidersat’s expertise and further developing the established long term relationship between BIA and Spidersat.”
