iDirect And Loral Skynet Demonstrate Remote Broadband Wireless Connectivity

June 15, 2005

HERNDON, Va., June 15 (SPX) -- iDirect Technologies and Loral Skynet announced Tuesday a joint demonstration of a new wireless broadband connectivity solution at CommunicAsia 2005 in Singapore.
The new solution carries broadband traffic over Loral Skynet's SkyReachSM IP-based satellite communications service, to iDirect remote equipment, connecting end-users to the Internet via WiFi protocol.
iDirect's new WiFi over satellite solution, named Global Edge Connect, will allow Loral Skynet to deliver service to areas where broadband terrestrial connections are unavailable, take too long to implement, and are too costly.

Combined with an iDirect remote satellite router, Loral Skynet will utilize its worldwide satellite coverage to deliver fixed-network backhaul over its SkyReach IP service to locations where base stations are located.

Network backhaul is typically the biggest challenge for a wireless ISP, especially if the provider is not the owner of the last-mile infrastructure.

The resulting WiFi hot-spot-in-a-box solution requires no installation or fixed-line connection and allows a wireless ISP (particularly a market entrant with no last-mile fixed network assets) an extremely rapid infrastructure rollout.

"WiFi access, enabled by SkyReach, is an ideal solution that we will now be able to offer service providers to deliver convenient, reliable, and economical direct access broadband services to villages, office parks, school campuses, harbors, ISPs, governments and enterprises," said Jon Kirchner, Vice President of global marketing for Loral Skynet.

"Not only will this SkyReach- based WiFi solution allow easier, more convenient connectivity for ultimate end users, but also it opens a number of business opportunities for our service provider customers, while creating a very natural extension of the Loral satellite fleet."

"We are very excited about this solution," said John Kealey, President and CEO of iDirect Technologies.

"The iDirect remote satellite router's ability to deliver speeds up to 18 Mbps, combined with iDirect's support for real time applications like voice and video allow us to deliver broadband connectivity that matches the quality and performance of digital terrestrial circuits.

"Global Edge Connect will extend this service resulting in a user experience comparable to traditional landline service, supporting any end user application at a very competitive rate."

iDirect's cost-effective satellite access solution with terrestrial quality of service has allowed iDirect to achieve broad acceptance as the vendor of choice for the backhaul of complementary wireless solutions such as WiFi and cellular.

The iDirect remote VSAT is a simple "one box" solution that provides enterprise-class IP transport and traffic management over satellite networks.

The iDirect remote router is a compact set-top terminal incorporating a satellite modem, IP router, TCP optimization over satellite, 3DES encryption, and QoS/prioritization all in one easy to deploy solution.

At the same time, it delivers the highest data throughput speeds in the industry today - 18 Mbps downstream, and 4.2 Mbps upstream.

(c)2005 UPI