News, VSATs, Africa & Middle East: Talia, one of the largest suppliers of satellite Internet for North Africa and the Middle East, is launching its new 'Good Works' scheme at the 2008 International Aid + Trade conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

The ‘Good Works' scheme aims to provide free VSAT hardware, with expanded African coverage for NGOs and Charities. The free remote hardware will be made available subject to a minimum service period.

The scheme came about as a result of a personal connection of Talia's COO Travis Mooney:

'One of my closest friends spent the last six months in Africa, working for one of the big NGOs, without any real kind of international connectivity,' said Mooney. 'There was an Internet connection by VSAT, but it wasn't very reliable, and certainly didn't have the capacity to carry voice traffic. GSM coverage was poor and hugely expensive, both for him to call out, and for people to call him.'

Talia sees the Good Works scheme as a way to bring reliable communications to remote workers, and will help by offering free hardware whenever possible. Most people in the industry talk about communications services as a requirement of business, which is certainly true. But with expatriates, especially those stationed in countries vastly different to their home, communications are not just a business tool, but a lifeline back to friends and family.

Expanded African Coverage via Arabsat

Building on existing knowledge of the Middle Eastern and North African markets, Talia will open coverage on Arabsat BADR-C, Arabsat 2B, and has reserved space on the forthcoming Arabsat BADR-6. Between the three satellites, Talia will be able to offer service across most of the African continent.

'We've been operating in Northern Africa and the Middle East for a while now,' said Mooney. 'We think we've had a pretty good success there, growing from 2.8 to 70MHz of occupied space segment in a little over three years.'

Cost is always a concern in the charitable sector, so Talia's new scheme tries to address this head on while maintaining the highest levels of support and customer care. According to Alan Afrasiab, CEO of Talia: 'It's a cliche, but every little bit does help. We came up with the Good Works scheme to help organisations which are out there trying to make a difference.'

About Talia: Talia is a top-tier provider of Internet and voice services,and one of the fastest growing satellite Internet providers in the Middle East. Experts in VSAT, wireless, and voice communications, Talia provide coverage from Europe to the Middle East and beyond. Talia is headquartered in London with offices in Dubai.