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Railroad Gets Its Own 3G Coverage |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Tuesday, 03 April 2007 |
An A$85 million communications deal signed between the Australian Rail
Track Corporation (ARTC) and Telstra will see 10,000 kilometres of rail
tracks covered by Telstra's Next G 3G network.
The deal, which will replace nine different communications systems used
on the railway, with a single GSM system will see 77 new base stations
built in regional Australia. The new communications network will
provide train controllers with real
time GPS location of all trains, wherever they are between Brisbane and
Perth.
Ordered to replace a system currently comprising a series of old
technologies, such as two-way radios and CDMA devices, the new network
will provide telecommunications coverage for the interstate rail
network - from Brisbane to Perth (via Melbourne and Broken Hill) and in
the Hunter Valley.
The agreement improves coverage in tunnels and across the Nullarbor
Plain, introduces new communications equipment for more than 700
locomotives, and is backed up with Satellite if necessary.
Chief Executive Officer of ARTC, David Marchant, said once completed
all trains and train controllers would be able to use the one system to
communicate with each other across the entire national rail network
from Brisbane to Perth, as well as the Hunter Valley Coal Network,
eliminating the inefficient nine different communications systems for
train operators.
"ARTC is breaking new ground in Australian rail communications,"
Marchant said. "A single national communication system will greatly
improve operational efficiency and reduce costs associated with
managing multiple platforms.
"This national rail network communications backbone will be the envy of
the North American and European rail networks. ARTC's approach is to
contract our communications delivery, which in itself is a major shift
for the rail industry.
"ARTC has chosen Telstra because its Next G network provides depth and
breadth of high speed coverage coupled with reliable performance - a
framework for continuous updating and improvement," he said.
Telstra Chief Executive Officer, Sol Trujillo, said the ARTC decision
was a strong endorsement of Telstra's world leading Next G network.
"What better way to bring the rail community into the 21st century than
via Telstra's turbo-charged Next G mobile broadband network which is
the fastest and largest of its kind in the world," Mr Trujillo said.
"Not only does today's agreement provide the best possible
communications system for ARTC's national rail network, it also
provides Next GTM mobile coverage for the first time in some remote and
regional towns such as Rawlinna (WA), Cook and Nackara (SA), and
Loadstone and Telegraph Point (NSW)."
"Currently reaching 98.8 per cent of the Australian population or 1.9
million square kilometres, the expanded Next G network will also
provide additional mobile broadband coverage to businesses and
consumers located in or travelling to these areas," said Telstra Group
Managing Director, Enterprise and Government, David Thodey.
Australian government funding under the Auslink National Transport Plan
has been made available to provide this common communications system
for the national rail network.
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