MetTel Labs Deploys VMware SD-WAN Over Starlink

Satellite technologies provide communications capabilities to places that otherwise would not have access to the Internet. These applications are important for government agencies and the environmental management industry, for example.

Recently, MetTel (News - Alert) announced that its Customer Innovation Labs has deployed its Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) service using the VMware SD-WAN solution over SpaceX (News - Alert)'s Starlink satellite service.

To make this possible, MetTel collaborated with multiple enterprise clients to deploy SD-WAN technology over the satellite network.

"Deployment of earth-based SD-WAN over Starlink will bring business-grade connectivity and network management to every remote location where it's needed for our clients," said Ed Fox, MetTel Chief Technology Officer who led the operation. "MetTel is thrilled to upgrade the quality of space-based communication while extending the reach of our SD-WAN network to any location worldwide.”

MetTel provides communications and digital transformation (DX) solutions for enterprise customers. It offers enterprises a unified view and control point for all of their communications and advanced network services. This boosts productivity, reduces costs, and simplifies operations.

The challenge with satellite communications is performance delays as the signals travel up to space and back down to earth. While Starlink's low-earth orbit system provides low latency, high-bandwidth transmissions without heavy processing, the MetTel Labs team can integrate space-based access paths into its existing terrestrial SD-WAN networks.

"The promise of space-based communication is limitless," said Craig Connors, vice president and general manager of VMware's SASE business. "By deploying SD-WAN over the Starlink satellite network, MetTel is bringing the benefits of VMware SD-WAN -- cloud-delivered, resilient networking with embedded security, along with DMPO which will automatically remediate transient satellite link issues -- to anywhere on earth, without the need for terrestrial networks."