Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT; TASE: GILT) has won a $16 million nine-month extension of a Colombian contract to provide rural communications satellite communications services. The contract with the Colombian Ministry of Information Technology and Communications for the Rural Communitarian Telephony and Telecentros projects, under the Social Telecommunications Program (Compartel).
Under the Compartel service agreements, Gilat provides telephony and Internet access to remote communities throughout rural Colombia. The current extension of the agreements covers 1,800 sites, benefiting over 4 million inhabitants rural residents, who have limited or no access to basic telecommunications services. The sites include telephony centers, small community internet access telecenters, known locally as CACI (Centro Acceso Comunitario a Internet) sites, and larger telecenters. Gilat supplies the computers, printers, scanners faxes and webcams for these sites.
The contract is Gilat's second contract in Colombia within a month. In December it won a $18.5 million contract to provide broadband Internet connectivity to over 1,600 rural schools.
Gilat's share price rose 1.9% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 15.65, after closing at $3.95 on Nasdaq on Friday, giving a market cap of $188 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 3, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012