Hughes Networks Strengthen MPLS Contract with AfDB

Already considered one of the top firms in the world when it comes to offering services usually associated with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) Hughes Networks has announced that it has been awarded a brand new contract from the African Development Bank (AfDB) that will expand its ability to offer MPLS services. AfDB and Hughes have been working with each other for nearly a decade and the firms changed the nature of the relationship often during that time period.

Since 2008, Hughes has been operating and managing a primary communications array, using broadband satellite terminals at more than 32 AfDB field offices throughout the continent of Africa. In 2013, the two firms took the next step by offering up MPLS circuits at four of those sites and routed those circuits through Abidjan in the Ivory Coast all the way to a teleport that was located in Germany. The new contract will expand how and where Hughes and AfDB are going to be using MPLS services to seven new bank locations.

Among the services that will be included in this expansion will be SAP, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), high-end video conferencing and a better Internet connection using broadband speeds. "Hughes has been a valued managed services provider to AfDB for many years," said David Wu, ICT Director at AfDB. "Our vision is to implement a decentralized IT cloud for which high throughput redundant links and reliable connectivity is of critical importance. The Hughes service delivers on all of these with superior in-country support.”

The need for high-speed Internet access is at a premium on the African continent and firms like Hughes are still trying to get their foot in the door in most instances. Because Hughes and AfDB have had such a long lasting relationship, the firms were able to work out a way where the rollout has been slow and steady. Still, this move will leave 22 branches out in the cold. That could mean even more expansion in the near future.