Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Power and Water Corporation will upgrade its mobile workforce communications system with a solution designed and supplied by Tait Communications.
Power and Water is a government-owned business which supplies and operates the Northern Territory's high-voltage electricity transmission backbone, and its water and sewerage networks. A major employer in the region, Power and Water's mobile workforce services a vast area of around 1.3 million square kilometres (bigger than Peru or South Africa).
The corporation had been using four aging analogue mobile radio networks to connect its field teams in the main population centres and along some of the interconnecting transport routes. While needed to ensure reliable communications, efficient service and worker safety, parts of the system were nearing the end of their effective lives. After considering options, Power and Water decided to upgrade to a digital mobile radio solution from Tait Communications.
The Tait solution, which includes a service package provided by Tait's Darwin based solution partner I.T.S. Communications, is based on a mobile radio standard called DMR Tier 3. Power and Water's evaluation concluded that the Tait solution provided the best whole-of-life value for money and lowest risk.
Power and Water's evaluation also noted that Tait is a known, trusted brand and its staff demonstrated a strong understanding of Power and Water's needs throughout the process. The ability to easily integrate advanced location and other data services in future was also a consideration in the decision, it said.
With the contract now agreed, the installation is expected to begin early in the first quarter of 2017, with staged handovers of coverage areas throughout 2017 and completion in early 2018.
Technical details
The Tait Communications DMR Tier 3 trunked network solution and services being provided to Power and Water Corporation includes:
- 20 transmission tower sites
- 300 mobile (vehicle) digital radios (TM9300)
- 50 portable digital radios (TP9300)
- Six dispatch consoles (Zetron MAX)
- Tait's Enable Network Monitoring and Management
- Over-the-air programming (OTAP)
- Tait's Service Advantage package
COMMENTS