Paratus Telecom brings Radwin JET wireless broadband to Zambia

Paratus Telecom, the largest privately owned Pan-African telecoms operator and a leading service provider in Zambia, has installed cutting-edge wireless broadband technology that reduces signal interference and enables greater coverage with less infrastructure.

The JET Bi-Directional Beamforming PtMP base station system supplied by global wireless broadband provider Radwin provides high-capacity last-mile connectivity to residential and enterprise users in Lusaka as well as in various other provinces. Paratus Telecom has also installed RADWIN 2000 point-to-point for high-capacity backhaul while Beacon Telecom, Radwin’s partner in Zambia, was responsible for project design and implementation.

Marius van Vuuren, country manager for Paratus Telecom in Zambia said the company selected JET after a thorough competitive evaluation.

“JET is a quick-to-market solution at a fraction of the cost of fibre. One of the biggest network challenges is interference, mainly in densely populated areas. This is largely due to many of our points-of-presence and high sites being shared sites with other operators.”

JET’s unique Bi-Directional Beamforming technology fights interference and allows Paratus Telecom to provide greater coverage with less infrastructure. With JET PtMP, it can deliver up to 50 Mbps at ranges of up to 15 Km, even in challenging non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions where direct line-of-sight is obstructed by buildings or trees.

Radwin’s ruggedised units operate in harsh weather, providing the high-speed connection customers require. The combination of Radwin’s advanced technology and the presence of a partner like Beacon Telecom led to the successful fruition of this project. As the network continues to grow, JET will easily scale to accommodate more subscribers and deliver greater capacity.

“Telecom service providers that we work with truly value Radwin’s carrier-grade solutions. Features such as JET’s multi-band support, NLOS and long-distance provisioning are appealing. More importantly, the fact that JET is extremely simple to install and maintain, thanks to its intuitive planning tools and simple operation position, makes it the perfect solution,” adds Beacon Telecom technical director Helit Bauberg.

Jet sales director Southern African region Nicholas Ehrke says JET carrier-grade systems are adopted by leading service providers in the world, based on their commercial and technical merit.

“Our equipment is built to last and allows operators to roll out high-speed broadband fast and reach areas where fibre cannot reach or is not financially viable.Powered by Bi-Beam™ – our revolutionary bi-directional beamforming technology – JET dramatically reduces interference and gives service providers the optimal solution for providing high speed broadband to their residential and business customers,” he concludes.

(Source: Langmead & Baker)