Gilat Satellite Networks is a public company headquartered in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
that develops and sells
VSAT
A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 kbit/s up to 1 ...
satellite ground stations and related equipment. Its shares are traded on the
NASDAQ Global Select Market and on the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ; colloquially known as The Bursa, ) is Israel's only public stock exchange and a public company that has been traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since August 1, 2019. Legally, the exchange is regulated by ...
.
History
Gilat Satellite Networks was founded in 1987 by brothers Joshua and Amiram Levinberg, Yoel Gat, Shlomo Tirosh, Arik Keshet, and Gideon Kaplan. In its early days, Gilat struggled to compete with larger and better-established companies the likes of
EchoStar.
In 1998, Gilat was involved in founding
Global Village Telecom
Global Village Telecom (GVT) was a Brazilian telecommunications company that offers services on landline telephone, broadband for both consumer and business, Pay TV and voice over IP. GVT has been in the market since the end of 2000. GVT today op ...
(GVT), a company that built a satellite-based phone network for remote locations in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
using the VSAT technology that was developed by Gilat. During 1998 and 1999 GVT won tenders to build rural phone networks in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
In 2000, Gilat introduced an innovation involving VSAT technology allowing remote locations, such as the
Havasupai Reservation in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
and rural communities in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, to access the internet at high speeds. In February 2000, Gilat and
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
announced that they are co-developing a two-way satellite broadband service for consumer purposes. The satellite service delivered Internet connections at speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps and did not require a second telephone line. A new company, Gilat-To-Home, was established to deliver the broadband two-way satellite service and Microsoft took an initial 26 percent stake in the company with an investment of US$50 million. In September 2000, Gilat-To-Home changed its name to
StarBand Communications and received an investment of $50 million from
EchoStar, who received an equity stake of 32 percent in
StarBand StarBand was a two-way Satellite Internet access, satellite broadband Internet service available in the United States, U.S. from 2000–2015.
StarBand ceased operations effective September 30, 2015 citing increased competition from other internet p ...
.
In 2011, Gilat announced the creation of a new division, headed by Brigadier General (
Res.)
Moshe Tamir, expanding its presence in the U.S.
defense market.
Strategic acquisitions
Products
* SkyEdge, SkyEdge II and NetEdge
* MLT-1000 ruggedized
spread-spectrum
In telecommunication and radio communication, spread-spectrum techniques are methods by which a signal (e.g., an electrical, electromagnetic, or acoustic signal) generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the frequency dom ...
satellite modem
See also
*
TA BlueTech Index
The TA BlueTech Index is a stock market index all capitalised information technology and biotechnology companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). The index was launched on 3 April 2011 as the TA BlueTech-50 Index and replaced by the ...
*
List of Israeli companies quoted on the Nasdaq
Israel had more companies listed in 2012 on the NASDAQ stock exchange than any country outside the United States, save China. As of 2011, some sixty Israeli companies are listed on the Nasdaq. 2000 was the year that saw the most new Israeli listin ...
Board Of director chief executive officer
Meir Shamir
Meir Shamir is an Israeli businessman, he is currently the chief executive officer and main shareholder of Mivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd. Shamir is an active philanthropist and since 2012, has served as the Head of "Taglit Israel" (Birthright Israe ...
References
{{Authority control
Telecommunications companies of Israel
Telecommunications companies established in 1987
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
1987 establishments in Israel