Telecom
GAN's making talking to rural areas easier in the Solomons
Communications to remote locations is made easier in the Solomon Islands through INMARSAT¹s Global Area Network (GAN), a service available through Solomon Telekom.
The system is a portable voice, data, text, fax, Internet, multimedia, LAN and WAN communications. NERA¹s Global Area Network (GAN) terminal provides 64 kbps voice and data and 4.8 kbps low cost voice for transmissions via INMARSAT's Global Area Network service. This communications tool allows Internet capabilities, e-mail service, transfers of large data files, video conferencing, fax and telephone to a global audience.
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The facility offers ISDN and provides a portable 64 kbps ISDN communications service for data and voice transmissions via INMARSAT¹s geo-stationary satellites.
NERA manufactures a lot of communication equipment that are used in the INMARSAT system.
NERA GAN has a built-in cordless telephone base permitting up to 12 cordless phones to be connected to form a phone network covering a 100-metre radius. Up to five handsets can be used at the same time for internal calls, which are free of charge. This makes the GAN terminals ideal for remote and mobile use.
Loyley Ngira, manager sales, marketing & operation Solomon Telekom, notes that the problem in Solomon Islands is power source considering the remoteness of islands within the Solomon Islands group.
"It¹s ideal because if a mining company wants to send data from its operation out in the bush they can use this unit," says Ngira.
Solomon Telekom's other product that is making rural communications easier is NERA¹s minimum high-gain unit, which allows a stronger signal due to its large antenna.
"This minimum phone unit is perfect for rural locations because it's battery and solar powered. And since almost all villages in the Solomons don't have electricity the minium phone works well in remote places. "The only catch is the airtime charge because there's a fixed charge set by the INMARSAT service provider, which is much higher than a local call. You're looking at US$2.40 - US$2.50 a minute. "But the system is succeeding because it¹s a no-infrastructure equipment.²
The international peace monitoring team in the Solomon Islands particularly out of the town limits or locations without electricity has extensively used the terminals.
