RAD’s Multiservice Access Platform Upgrades Communications Services at Island Resorts

Fiji islands are popular vacation spots that offer a wealth of activities, including scuba diving, kayaking and sailing. However, until recently, surfing was a problem – surfing on the Internet, that is.

The islands communicated with the mainland over low speed, dial-up radio links, which were installed 20 years ago when only voice transmission was required. Internet users would typically have to struggle with access speeds of 14–28 kbps.

To improve Internet access speeds, Telecom Fiji upgraded the old, analog radio links to 768 kbps, remotely controllable and configurable digital radio links. And it is deploying RAD Multiservice Access Platform (MAP) products to deliver voice, fax and Internet connectivity to 35 resorts on outlying islands. The equipment is being supplied by Paclink, a RAD distributor partner serving Australasia, and includes Megaplex data, voice and LAN modular integrated access multiplexers and DXC multiservice access nodes.

“The success of this project hinged on finding the right equipment to interface with our existing networking, without the need for any major changes,” states Chandra P. Anuj, Development Manager of Telecom Fiji’s Broadband Network. Anuj notes that the entire solution including the Aprisa radio equipment will deliver a two-year payback, and that the RAD component will pay for itself within 18 months. “RAD provided reliable equipment at the right price,” he continues. “We’ve also been very pleased with the training and factory equipment testing RAD provided.” The resorts will increase revenue streams by increasing the available bandwidth for guests’ Internet surfing.

Telecom Fiji will deploy RAD’s five-slot Megaplex-2104 at each island resort to multiplex and compress voice and fax traffic. Using ADPCM 32 kbps voice compression, Megaplex reduces the amount of bandwidth that has to be allocated for voice. This guarantees that 128 kbps of bandwidth can be reserved for Internet traffic on the radio links between the resorts and the carrier’s points-of-presence (POPs) on Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island.

DXC units at the POPs will serve as cross connects between the islands and the carrier’s transport network, grooming voice traffic from fractional E1s onto a full E1 line. In addition, a 12-slot Megaplex-2100 configured with a fractional E1 main link module will also be deployed at each POP to concentrate the Ethernet traffic from the islands over a separate, full E1.

The RADview network management system, based on a PC platform, allows remote configuration and fault, performance and security management for the entire network from a central site. This eliminates the need to station technicians in the field and significantly increases system uptime.