Safaricom, Kenya Providing Network Extensions To Remote Locations 106327AE GSM Base Station Controller Ultra WAVE BSC Safaricom Extension

User Manual: GSM Base Station Controller UltraWAVE BSC

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 2

CASE STUDY

Safaricom, Kenya - Providing Network Extensions

to Remote Locations

Overview

In the heart of the African savannah lies 55,000 acres of private

game land encompassing grasslands, wetlands and indigenous

forests. Originally settled in 1922 as a cattle ranch, the Lewa Wildlife

Conservancy, located 140 miles north of Nairobi in Kenya, East Africa,

is now home to a number of endangered wild animals.

As a yearly event to raise money for the ecological management and

operations of the park, Safaricom, Kenya’s first and largest mobile

network operator and a subsidiary of Vodafone, hosts the Safaricom

Marathon. During the marathon, more than 450 athletes and dignitaries

from over 16 countries, as well as hundreds of spectators, converge

upon the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to participate in and support the

event. Internationally acclaimed, the Safaricom Marathon is the only

marathon in the world occurring in a wildlife conservancy.

Problems addressed

In anticipation of thousands of marathon attendees, Safaricom wanted

to have a robust and reliable communications network up and running

for the event. Kenya's vast land mass, extreme climate and terrain make

traditional wireline communications capabilities difficult and costly.

Given the situation, it was necessary for Safaricom to augment their

communications capabilities to include the wildlife conservancy.

CASE STUDY

Website: www.adc.com

From North America, Call Toll Free: 1-800-366-3891 • Outside of North America: +1-952-938-8080

Fax: +1-952-917-3237 • For a listing of ADC’s global sales office locations, please refer to our website.

ADC Telecommunications, Inc., P.O. Box 1101, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA 55440-1101

Specifications published here are current as of the date of publication of this document. Because we are continuously

improving our products, ADC reserves the right to change specifications without prior notice. At any time, you may

verify product specifications by contacting our headquarters office in Minneapolis. ADC Telecommunications, Inc.

views its patent portfolio as an important corporate asset and vigorously enforces its patents. Products or features

contained herein may be covered by one or more U.S. or foreign patents. An Equal Opportunity Employer

106327AE 5/08 Original © 2008 ADC Telecommunications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Four weeks before the race, Safaricom received final word from the incumbent communications supplier

informing them that they wouldn’t be able to connect the cell site that Safaricom had built in the

conservancy to the main switch in Nairobi via microwave transmission in time for the marathon.

After learning about various similar deployments throughout Africa using compressed satellite backhaul

as opposed to traditional microwave, Safaricom issued the challenge to ship, install, and deploy a

GSM cellular network covering the marathon’s route within a three-week period of time – a daunting

challenge for any telecom provider – intensified by the logistical issues presented by location and terrain

of the conservancy.

As the majority of the three weeks were used in the logistics of getting the equipment into the country,

the actual installation of ADC's Network-In-A-Box took place within a 24-hour time window, which

extended into the middle of the night. Network installation workers had to be surrounded by armed

park rangers to protect them against the park’s lions, rhinos, and elephants milling about the area.

On race day, July 1, 2001, the Safaricom's network was successfully turned on in record time.

ADC’s Network Systems

ADC’s compact, powerful and flexible UltraWAVE GSM technology made it the perfect solution for the

challenging issues of the conservancy. ADC’s network ensured the safety of the participants by allowing

medical personnel to be in contact with each other, park rangers to maintain a certain level of safety

for the animals and attendees, and enabling the eight water stations along the dirt-track route to stay

fully supplied. Completely self-contained, ADC’s fully-functional GSM solution allowed athletes and

spectators alike to communicate with friends, family and business associates throughout the world. Due

to the ability to provide a robust and reliable network in an unprecedented amount of time, Safaricom

has continued to deploy ADC's solution for network build-outs in other African cities. These additional

deployments reflect success and expertise in deploying efficient and cost-effective GSM networks under

difficult and challenging conditions, while maintaining the highest levels of quality.

The Safaricom deployment is just one example of how ADC’s revolutionary products and services provide

efficient, reliable and affordable communications to millions of people in emerging countries around the

world, enabling ADC to execute its vision of ‘reaching the unreachable’.

ADC's Network-In-A-Box system is a fully integrated system that contains a Mobile Switching Center

(MSC), Base Station Controller (BSC) and Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a cabinet about the size

of a tower PC.

RESULTS

A once unreachable location now has full voice and data services•

Network up-and-running within 24 hours of equipment delivery•

Additional network extensions in other remote areas also deployed•