ASTEL: expanding opportunities. Article in the journal Oil and Gas

ASTEL has been operating in the telecommunications market for almost 20 years, has long established itself as a reliable partner and a team of true professionals. The company has a wealth of experience and dozens of successful projects on a national scale. But many still perceive the company only as a satellite communications operator, because ASTEL is the owner of the largest satellite network in Kazakhstan, consisting of more than 2.5 thousand base stations. However, today the possibilities of ASTEL are much wider - the operator has become a real universal company that is able to solve any problem in the field of telecommunications and related areas as efficiently as possible.

The company has always used an integrated approach in working with customers: from the design of the communication system and the supply of equipment to the implementation, commissioning and training of the customer's personnel. But if earlier solutions were based mainly on a satellite network, now ASTEL can offer complexity in the choice of network infrastructure. Last year, the company rebooted its business model by entering into strategic partnerships with major owners of terrestrial network infrastructure, including fiber-optic backbones. ASTEL's partners are Kazakhtelecom, Transtelecom and KazTransCom.

As a result, ASTEL clients received the most developed network infrastructure: the largest satellite network of the company itself plus tens of thousands of kilometers of fiber-optic channels of its partners. The new strategy gives ASTEL clients several significant advantages. Firstly, it is a reduction in costs, since the client will receive a cost-optimal solution that is not tied to a specific infrastructure. Secondly, increasing the reliability of data transmission networks due to the reservation of satellite channels by terrestrial ones and vice versa. Thirdly, it is an opportunity to get the whole range of services from one source. After all, it is no secret that the most difficult and critical moment is the joining of dissimilar solutions, their unification into a single system. It often happens that solutions from different suppliers work separately, but turn out to be inoperable as part of a common complex. Cooperation with a single partner allows you to avoid such incidents. Moreover, this approach is effective in the implementation of new tasks. For example, a company has a data transmission network, but at some point the task arises to organize a video conferencing system, video surveillance, or to expand the telephone capacity.

You can turn to new contractors, but most likely it is the current partner who will offer the best solution: cheaper and in a shorter time. In addition, ASTEL can act as an external consultant: audit the existing network infrastructure of the client and, if necessary, solve the identified problems. Efficiency is achieved by the presence of ASTEL in all regions of the country - the company has nineteen regional departments with teams staffed with system administrators, equipment and transport, which allows us to promptly provide customers with high-quality service in any region of Kazakhstan, regardless of geographic location. The company is also represented in the Caspian region - among the most experienced branches, the ASTEL office in Atyrau stands out, which has been operating almost from the moment the company was founded. Since then, the staff of the branch has remained practically unchanged. This means that today they are not just professionals in their field, but also have rich experience and good knowledge of the specifics of the region. Among ASTEL's long-term clients are oil and gas companies such as KazTransOil, Petro Kazakhstan, Tengizchevroil and many others.

One of the key clients is Agip, for which ASTEL has developed and successfully implemented a project for organizing satellite data and voice transmission channels, as well as a wireless access system for stationary and mobile offshore facilities in the Caspian shelf. In addition, when working with companies in the oil and gas sector, ASTEL pays great attention to the professionalism of its employees, not only in the field of telecommunications. Since safety issues are very acute in the oil and gas sector, ASTEL certifies engineers and obtains permits to work in hazardous facilities. Thus, ASTEL continues to strengthen its reputation as a reliable partner, does not stand still and gains new competencies. By expanding the range of its own capabilities, the company also expands the capabilities of its customers.