Roshan signs service agreement with SpeedCast to provide CellularBackhauling support in Afghanistan

Roshan signs service agreement with SpeedCast to provide CellularBackhauling support in Afghanistan

Sydney, Australia, December 23, 2016 - SpeedCast International Limited (ASX: SDA), a leading global satellite communications and network service provider, today announced that it has been awarded a multi-year service agreement by Roshan, Afghanistan's leading telecommunications provider, to upgrade its cellular backhaul network to support 3G services over satellite in Zabul province in southwestern Afghanistan. Roshan has more than 6.5 million active subscribers across 287 districts and cities in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

“With the upgraded network, operators like Roshan can provide new and better service offerings to end users by providing reliable and scalable connectivity. Once customers have access to better connectivity, it inevitably leads to a rapid increase in bandwidth demand. The new backhaul network over satellite also allows operators to explore and develop new business opportunities and revenue streams, such as offering broadband and managed network solutions to banks, governments and home users using VSAT,”said PJ Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast.

“This is our first 3G backhaul service deployment in Afghanistan,” Mr. Beylier commented. “This win provides us a strong foothold in the growing cellular backhaul market in the Middle East, as mobile operators and service providers are upgrading their servicecapacity to meet the surging data adoption in both the enterprise and consumer markets. SpeedCast sees cellular backhaul as an important growth driver for us as telecommunication providers continue to expand coverage into remote areas,” he added.

SpeedCast’s cellular backhaul suite of solutions, under the CelCast™ name, are designed to optimize satellite traffic in telecommunication environments, lowering the total cost of ownership and bringing unrivalled quality of service to its customers’ networks.