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May 14th, 2009 at 6:47pm
If all 3500 users are in one place I would recommend trying hard to get a terrestrial optic fibre connection as this is likely to be the least costly.
If your users are scattered over a wide area however, satellite represents a solution for those difficult remote locations, away from a good terrestrial infrastructure.
Consider a VSAT satellite system for 1000 such remote users. Capacity sizing (Mbit/s on the satellite) is based on the total number of end user PCs and their activity. Assuming 'moderate' useage (i.e. not downloading videos all day or sending out virus emails non-stop !) each PC needs an allowance of about 12 kbit/s download speed and 3 kbit/s upload speed, so for a total of 1000 PCs, you will need something like 12 Mbit/s down and 3 Mbit/s up.
For this fully implemented system, the cost could be $105,000 per month. Helpfully, the full satellite capacity does not need to be bought up front but could grow to match your customer growth.
For 1000 PCs total, it is likely that you might have perhaps 200 sites, each with an average of 5 PCs. Cost per site per month might be $525. ($105 per month per end user PC)
I would recommend getting some small scale experience by equipping several remote offices, each with a satellite connection. Go to this satsig page Satellite service providers for the Middle East region and contact all companies explaining your requirements. Ask about how you might manage your sites in the future, as you grow. One possibility is becoming an iDirect Virtual Network Operator (iDirect VNO). The large dish satellite teleport hub might be in Europe, Hong Kong or Australia and you would have full control of the hub control computers remotely so that you can do traffic, network and VSAT site management from your own screens. HughesNet HX and ViaSat LinkStar and Surfbeam are alternative VSAT technologies.
Hopefully you will get email advice directly to you from other providers and also further help here in this forum.
Best regards, Eric.
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