Latin American satellite operator Agencia Boliviana Espacial (ABE, Bolivian Space Agency) and Newtec, a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications, today announced the successful completion of a trial campaign – which transmitted more than 500Mbps over 120MHz on Ka-band.

The Ka-band tests demonstrated three main use-case scenarios, showing the versatility of Newtec’s MDM6000 series, which as well as being capable of transmitting up to 425Mbps bi-directionally, can also operate at much lower rates as required for multicarrier applications. The modems also support different standards, including DVB-S2X, and feature Newtec’s Clean Channel Technology®.

Major results include transmitting 2Mbps over 1MHz bandwidth from the remote to the hub station in Amachuma (located in the La Paz department on the western side of Bolivia at an elevation of higher than 4,000m above sea level) using a 1.2m antenna and 4W, ideal for applications like mobile backhaul. Meanwhile, 153Mbps was transmitted over 36MHz from the hub to the remote station using a 1.2m antenna and 4W, as well as a 9m, 200W hub, in a set-up typical of VSAT operators. The hub to hub (9m and 200W to 9m) test recorded a result of 257Mbps into 60MHz, an arrangement appropriate for IP Trunking and optical fiber restoration or back-up.

“The tests with Newtec demonstrated the outstanding performance of the company’s equipment for a variety of applications and the high quality of our satellite services,” said Iván Zambrana, General Executive Director of ABE. “The testing was conducted successfully and showed support for different standards (including DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X) and higher spectral efficiency levels with modulation schemes from QPSK to 256APSK. Advanced coding and bandwidth optimization was also achieved through reduced roll-off factors and Newtec’s Clean Channel Technology.”