Innovative Radio And Telephony Partnership Reconnects Communities Surrounding Ska Radio Telescope
Innovative Radio And Telephony Partnership Reconnects Communities Surrounding Ska Radio Telescope. South-Africa is well known as an important global partner at the forefront of astronomy, with both optical and radio astronomy centres finding a home in the country’s sparsely populated Northern Cape.
Local communities surrounding the Radio Astronomy Project, known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Radio Telescope, have had to pay the price of losing connectivity, however an innovative partnership between Altron Nexus and Telviva has reconnected local farmers, SKA staffers and emergency services to the world.
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), which is a facility of the National Research Foundation, manages all the radio astronomy initiatives in the county, including the SKA. Radio astronomy requires radio silence for frequencies above 200Mhz and for facilities to be built in remote, high-lying regions. Terrestrial radio signals interfere with the signals received from deep space, which puts the science, which is reshaping our understanding of the universe, at risk. However, radio silence means just that. All radio frequencies that interfere with the telescope are banned, including cell phone networks and devices that produce radio waves. In a region where there are no analogue Telkom lines, the implication is that outside the confines of small towns where cell coverage is permitted, there is nothing except satellite communication. This comes at a significant cost as it has a negative effect on communities who are unable to communicate or respond to emergencies such as wildfires, crime and more.
A few years ago, SARAO enlisted Altron Nexus to provide a solution for this challenge. Altron Nexus runs the largest critical communications network in Africa and provides coverage to various bodies, for example law enforcement. Altron Nexus builds infrastructure that could facilitate radio communication in a small frequency band which is invisible and inaudible to the telescope.
Deon De Villiers, Business Unit Head for Altron Nexus in the Western Cape, explains: “We were requested to develop and provide a two-way radio network for the SKA itself and the surrounding community to replace the GSM networks – we were required (needed) to transmit below 200MHz. Over the past five years we have built infrastructure which includes four high sites in the towns of Williston, Brandvlei, Vanwyksvlei and Carnarvon which serve SKA staff, farming communities, municipalities, emergency services and disaster management.”
David Meintjes, CEO of Telviva, says the project is the culmination of a long partnership with Altron Nexus. “Telviva and Altron Nexus have partnered for many years, and so it only made sense for us to leverage our extensive experience and expertise in telephony and our Telviva platform to enable a public switched telephone network (PTSN)”.
“Like Altron Nexus, Telviva exists to solve real-world problems in a practical and scalable way. The success of the project, which has moved from a proof of concept to being rolled out, is built on the foundations of a long-standing partnership.” he continued.
