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Year In Review... Comtech EF Data


comtechef_sm1210_l One of the best methods wherein a Company’s success in 2010 can be measured is by reviewing contract and product success. Such is certainly the case for Comtech EF Data, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Comtech Telecommunications Corporation. With million dollar orders being received throughout the year, a review of their October and November orders reveal the significant opportunities received by the Company.

A major event for Comtech EF Data was the acquisition of Stampede® Technologies, a company that developed the FX Series WAN optimization and application acceleration platforms. Such will now assist Comtech expand their WAN offerings for commercial applications, which, overall, aids in far better use of satellite links and reduces the bandwidth required for SATCOM. The Stampede technology merges one-sided application delivery and two-sided WAN optimization into a single platform, and there are a renumber of remote side WAN optimization options, as well. Using Stampede’s Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and WAN Optimization technologies (WOC), the number of channel bits are reduced through multiple forms of compression to minimize IP congestion on satellite links. Typical users for the Stampede products include ISPs, enterprises, offshore/maritime, and telecommunications operators.

In early November of 2010, the Company was awarded several million dollar contracts. There was a $1.0 million contract for a DTH service provider for modulators and demodulators for expansion of that firm’s services in the USA. Specified where Comtech’s DM240XR Digital Video Broadcast Modulator and the Demodulator units as well as the RRS11 Solid State Transfer Switches. Incorporated into these units are high capacity, programmable FPGA cores, which allow users to expand networks and also minimize the impacts of new technologies or service offering, as well as reducing costs for service providers.

comtechef_sm1210_g1 Another contract was for $1.9 million from U.S. government agencies for the firm’s turboIP-G2 Performance Enhancement Proxies. These will be used to upgrade networks that support tactical communications at fixed site as well as aiding communication-on-the-halt applications. Thee turboIP-G2 accelerates TCP sessions at speed of 15 or 45 Mbps, all the while requiring minimal topology alterations. With the ability to operate as a hub device, or at a remote site, WAN optimization features are tailored to address SATCOM and, to minimize the data traveling via satellite links, advanced compression techniques are employed.

A $1 million order was received in October of 2010 for placement of their Vipersat-powered dynamic Single Carrier per Channel (dSCPC) satellite networks in a variety of Asia-Pacific countries to provide high-speed IP emergency services communications for governments and utility companies in case of natural disasters or other terrestrial failures. This order included the Company’s SLM-5650A, CDM-570L, CDD-564 and CDM-562L satellite modems as well as the Vipersat Management System (VMS), which provides dSCPC bandwidth management of the space segment.

Also in October, a $3.2 million order was received to upgrade fielded satellite terminals in support of tactical military communications. The MBT-5003 Up/Down Converter System and the SLM-5650A Satellite Modem were on the order requisition. The former provides frequency conversion between L-band IF and C-/X-/Ku-band RF frequencies with n a 3Ru platform package and is designed for rugged fly-away terminal use. The latter Satellite Modem is compliant with MIL-STD-188-165A, modem types I, II, IV, V and VI for applications on DSCS, WGS and commercial satellites. The modem supports advanced options such as increased bandwidth efficiency and flexibility, including TRANSEC and Network Processor modules.

Comtech EF Data also won the Frost & Sullivan “North American New Production Innovation of the Year in Satellite Communications Modems”. A number of criteria were used to benchmark the performance of the CDM-750 modem. These included performance against key competitors, product elements, leading edge technologies inclusion, value-added benefits and features, and the value to the customer as well as customer acquisition and penetration potential. The CDM-750 simultaneously supports DVB-S2, ACM, GZIP compression and DoubleTalk® Carrier-in-Carrier® and also leverages DVB-S2 EN 302 307 LDPC/BCH for a blend of modulation and coding to ensure the maximum amount of satellite traffic is transported for a given signal to noise capacity. The modem can also automatically adjust performance and error correction when confronted with changing link conditions.

comtechef_sm1210_bio In commenting on the Company’s performance and business outlook for fFiscal 2010 Q4 and Full Year, Fred Kornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cometech EF Data, said, “Our fourth quarter and fiscal 2010 results were strong and benefited significantly from the timing of shipments of multiple large orders from the U.S. Army. Although our fiscal 2011 guidance reflects lower sales relating to these orders, all of our other product lines are expected to show year-over-year growth.” Mr. Kornberg added, “We believe that business conditions are slowly improving and are excited about our long-term business prospects.”