Tech Watch: Gilat wins Chinese contract

Separately, Gilat subsidiary Spavenet Inc. has introduced its Armadillo VSAT broadband satellite router system.

By AVI KRAWITZ
tech watch 88 (photo credit: )
tech watch 88
(photo credit: )
Petah Tikva-based Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has been selected by China Unicom Ltd. to provide a 1,500-site, high-speed satellite communication network. The company did not disclose the value of the contract. Gilats SkyEdge VSAT equipment will be used for rural telecom applications throughout China. Separately, Gilat subsidiary Spavenet Inc. has introduced its Armadillo VSAT broadband satellite router system. The new system is the first satellite networking system designed specifically for all-weather. Petah Tikva-based Internet Gold said it had record sales of NIS 297 million in 2005, representing a rise of 36% from 2004. Net income, however, dropped slightly to NIS 18.3m., or NIS 0.99 per share, from NIS 19.5m., or NIS 1.06 in 2004. The company identified its long distance calling business, Internet advertising and business services as its key growth areas. Or Yehuda-based developer of coverage enhancement solutions for cellular networks Cellvine Ltd., has raised $4m. in its series C round of funding. The lead investors were Stratum Wealth Management LLC and Malabar Holdings Ltd. in their first direct investment in privately held companies in Israel. They have options to invest up to $6m. in additional capital, based on certain milestones over the next 12 months. ECI Telecom, a Petah Tikva-based digital communications company, has launched its next-generation Storage Area Network (SAN) extension solution, the BroadGate SAN XT, for transport networks. The SAN XT enables disaster recovery and business continuity over Metro or Wide Area networks for hundreds of kilometers. Network Appliance Inc. has launched its new products and technologies designed to help customers find new ways to protect and manage their critical enterprise data, and representing an expansion of the NetApp disk-to-disk backup family. Deutsche Bank cut its recommendation for Nice Systems Ltd. to "hold" from a "buy." Deutsche Bank said the shares are now "fairly valued" in relation to Nice's organic rate of growth. The move came a day before the company was scheduled to report its latest quarterly results Symantec Corp. revealed its top 10 list of most malicious computer codes in January. Sober.X, Netsky.P and Blackmal.E were the three most damaging viruses worldwide for the month according to the provider of security solutions.