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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
JUNE 2015
30
T
he Passenger Rail Agency of South
Africa (PRASA) has an extensive ex-
isting fibre optic network, running
over a distance of 1 200 km, that allows
constant and consistent communications
between its railway trucks, railway sta-
tions, divisional offices and head office.
Acknowledging that the commercialisation
of this network could benefit a number of
people within proximity of the railway line’s
connectivity, PRASA has embarked on an
ambitious and exciting project to share its
network connectivity with the community.
Haim Derazon, CEO of Railway Cellular, ex-
plains that the fundamentals of the network
were already in place so an expansion was a
natural extension of its capacities and capa-
bilities. Railway Cellular has worked closely
with PRASA over the past two years to plan,
design and execute an extended network. In
addition, in an extensive corporate social in-
vestment (CSI) initiative, the network will be
made available to a pre-selected number of
schools and clinics along the railway route.
To date, 22 schools (11 in Soweto and nine
in KwaZulu-Natal), including a number of
schools for the hearing impaired, are ben-
efitting from the free connectivity PRASA’s
network affords them. Derazon points out
that the project will focus on building an
education network that will ultimately see
269 schools across the country plugging
into PRASA’s communications network. The
Department of Education is responsible for
explaining the initiative to the positively af-
fected schools and partnerships with Intel
and Compaq will see the delivery of special
communication systems and tablets.
Railway Cellular approached Noah Mashaba,
MD of IP Solutions, to assess the hardware
needs for the burgeoning network. Dera-
zon says he was particularly impressed by
the great knowledge and professionalism
Mashaba exhibited in his selection of best
practice technology to align with the correct
protocols needed for an efficient network.
For the first nine schools under the project
umbrella, IP Solutions selected a number
of products from wireless IP convergence
company MiRO. These included nine Ubiqui-
ti Rocket M5 5GHz titanium outdoor wireless
radios, nine Ubiquiti 30Dbi dual polarised
dishes, 18 Ubiquiti Nano Station M2 2.4GHz
outdoor Wi-Fi access points and one Mikro-
Tik Cloud Core Router for all network and
hotspot management services.
The network is very stable, producing a high
throughput of 30 mbps. “We are thrilled with
the performance of the pilot systems, which
are allowing the schools to participate in
live video streaming sessions on Skype and
conference calls without any connectivity or
interference issues,” says Derazon.
Based on the satisfaction expressed by both
Railway Cellular and PRASA, Phase 2, which
is again being undertaken by IP Solutions
using MiRO hardware, commenced in late
April.
“The educational network will facilitate
extended e-learning, a facility that is es-
pecially attractive to the large number of
children receiving remote rural schooling,
who are often disconnected from any form
of telecommunication service. In addition,
POP sites can be set up at schools and
connectivity can be sold to members of the
community. This will allow schools to ben-
efit financially from the service. In this way,
the initiative will not just move the economy,
but more importantly, it will enhance it,” Der-
azon enthuses.
b
EXISTING RAILWAY COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
to provide coverage for schools
RAIL