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Leading Edge Wireless Technology Defies Odds; Achieves High Performance Connectivity Across Obstructed Paths
ASHBURTON, United Kingdom --(Business Wire)-- Nov. 2, 2004 -- Orthogon Systems and Macs Communications Limited (Macscoms) deploy high performance broadband networks that cost-effectively replace telco line circuits and extend broadband to remote locations
Orthogon Systems(TM), a leading provider of carrier-class point-to-point broadband wireless systems, and Macscoms, a leading wireless solutions provider, today announced the completion of two challenging high performance wireless networks in the United Kingdom. Built for Weymouth College and City of Stoke on Trent Council Education Department (SED), the networks not only replaced existing telco circuits with higher bandwidth and less expensive connections, but also extended broadband connectivity to remote locations where it was previously not available. The point-to-point wireless links were deployed in the unlicensed 5.8GHz band, recently opened for commercial use in the United Kingdom, across highly obstructed paths where other wireless systems could not operate.
"The ability to deploy broadband wireless to deliver a reliable, high performance point-to-point connection, even in highly obstructed environments and over long distances, is enabling Macscoms to address new customer opportunities," said Stephen McKeown, Managing Director of Macscoms. "The Orthogon product is the only wireless platform that we have seen that can provide the necessary carrier-grade reliability in extreme environments. With new options for connectivity, we can design and implement better network solutions for our customers that bring higher value to their businesses."
Bandwidth demand on networks is rapidly increasing due to new applications such as video and voice-over-IP, and the many new users running those applications across a wide area network (WAN). Commercial use of the 5.8GHz radio band in the United Kingdom is enabling service providers and enterprises to address this bottleneck with a high bandwidth alternative to LES circuits.
"The demand for bandwidth has exploded; and without addressing the bottleneck issue it will have a direct effect on business productivity. The opening of the unlicensed 5.8GHz band offers a timely solution that, as we are seeing through demand for our product in the UK, is being enthusiastically welcomed," said Phil Bolt, president and CEO of Orthogon Systems. "We are excited to be working with Macscoms, a company with considerable wireless expertise, to prove the viability of this new connectivity option and help businesses obtain their objectives through high performance networking."
Universities and educational organizations are particularly challenged with balancing the deployment of new applications with the high cost of bandwidth. Macscoms deployed Orthogon Systems' OS-Gemini broadband wireless Ethernet bridge to provide high bandwidth and cost-effective wireless solutions, in challenging environments, for both Weymouth College and SED.
Delivering Higher Value at Weymouth College
Weymouth College's main campus is in Weymouth with remote campuses in Dorchester, Colwell and Portland, at distances of up to 10 km away. The College was connecting four buildings on these campuses via LES circuits that delivered 2 Mbps of throughput. With new, higher bandwidth applications and more and more traffic passing over the lines, the College required connections with higher throughput to speed communication between the sites.
The cost of increasing LES circuits was prohibitive. The considerable distance between each location, with buildings, trees and terrain obstructing clear line-of-sight, made conventional point-to-point broadband wireless platforms ineffective without investing in large towers and heavy duty antennae. Using the OS-Gemini with integrated antennae, Macscoms had the wireless links up and running in a matter of days, providing 99.999% (carrier-grade) availability across the obstructed paths. The throughput between each site either doubled to 4 Mbps or quadrupled to 8 Mbps. Project payback is anticipated to be less than three years, with a five year estimated savings of more than GBP 32,000.
City of Stoke on Trent Council
Stoke Education Department (SED) has installed 100 mbps fibre optic access lines into several High Schools located throughout the area. From the High Schools, SED is extending wireless broadband to approximately 120 High, Junior, Primary and Special Needs Schools to enable Internet and Intranet connections that meet the Government's latest requirements. Macscoms has been instrumental in the planning and implementation with SED over the last 18 months to fulfill the communications requirements.
While each High School with 100 Mbps access lines are situated geographically where clear line-of-sight is available to most of the surrounding schools it connects to, there were several challenging school locations without obstructed paths where wireless products could not connect at high speed reliably. Specifically, a Special Needs Schools required an 8 Mbps link urgently. There were no Internet cable providers in the area, and the school is located in a valley surrounded by trees where line of sight to the High School 2.5 km away was fully obstructed. The OS-Gemini was able to make a connection across the obstructed path with 99.999% availability between the two locations, giving the school 10 Mbps full duplex bandwidth. It was found to be the only product in the market that could provide connectivity in this situation.
Macsoms has since deployed another four OS-Gemini links, operating in non-line-of-sight (NLoS) situations, over long distances, and enabling much higher speeds than the existing wireless broadband infrastructure. This has allowed SED to enable the deployment of more advanced applications over these links, including video conferencing between schools.
About the OS-Gemini Wireless Ethernet Bridge
The OS-Gemini is the only point-to-point broadband wireless product that can negotiate obstacles and terrain to maintain a wireless link with carrier-class reliability. The system provides a secure broadband link, connecting separate networks where obstacles such as trees and buildings prevent a direct line-of-sight connection. The platform is FCC and ETSI certified, operates in the unlicensed 5.8GHz band and is easy to install, configure and manage. It delivers payback in less than 12 months to enterprise customers, including corporations, municipalities, universities and hospitals seeking to connect disparate networks; and to wireless ISPs seeking to backhaul data or cellular traffic.
About Macscoms
Macs Communications Limited (Macscoms) is one of the United Kingdom's leading providers of wireless voice, data and IP security solutions. Through alliances with the top wireless equipment manufacturers and in-house technical expertise, the company is able to provide best-of-breed design, implementation and support of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services to both the corporate and public sectors of industry. Macscoms has successfully deployed hundreds of networks across the United Kingdom and has received accreditations from the computer industry's leading manufacturers, enabling it to design and implement custom solutions that best fit each customer's requirements. For more information, visit the Web site at www.macscoms.com.
About Orthogon Systems
Orthogon Systems provides the industry's leading carrier-grade point-to-point broadband wireless system, the OS-Gemini Broadband Wireless Ethernet Bridge. Through several innovative technologies and techniques, the company has developed a point-to-point system that connects at high speeds with carrier-grade reliability around obstacles, such as terrain and buildings, over long distances, and over large bodies of water. The OS-Gemini is deployed in over 500 networks worldwide, connecting disparate networks in the corporate, government, healthcare and education marketplaces; and enabling wireless service providers to extend broadband to remote areas and backhaul wireless data traffic efficiently. Orthogon Systems is a privately funded company with headquarters in Ashburton, Devon, United Kingdom and Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. For more information, visit our Web site at www.orthogonsystems.com.
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