CAG - Cape Range Wireless
'Cape Range network wins Asia contracts
Pubfication: The West Australian; Date:2005 3an 25; Section:News; Page Number: 34
Arcadian wireless system connects remote and rural communities to telephone lines
Cape Range network wins Asia contracts
SARAH ROBERTS
Cape Range Wireless is making inroads into new Asian markets after a lucrative Bangladesh contract and a glowing endorsement from the Malaysian Government helped push its rural communications technology into the commercial arena after seven years of development.
The company's patented Arcadian system is designed to transmit voice and data wirelessly from a country's main telephone network to communities 50 to 60km away. Chairman Ron Wise said the technology aimed to bridge the "digital divide" between
developed and remote areas by offering a system which had low capital, maintenance and operation costs. "The product we have developed answers the needs of much of the developing world
demand where people have never used a telephone for lack of service and yet already access to the Internet for education purposes," he said. First developed in 1998 and tested on the Malaysian island of Langkawi since last year, Arcadian recently won a contract with Bangladesh carrier PeoplesTet for a 30-month first stage deal worth at least $85 million. The first 10,000 lines are expected to be installed in about 39 communities in Bangladesh by the end of March and a second phase of the deal, worth $415 million, is being finalised.
Mr Wise said the Bangladesh contract was a turning point for Cape Range after years of operating in an industry where telcos had been cautious about wireless technology.
"It's taken us a good two years longer than we hoped to get through the regulatory environment," he said. "Everything we do (to put the system in place) affects the whole security and lifeline of every country through its telephone network. "Before they would let us connect we needed to satisfy an inordinate number of different groups."
The PeoplesTel deal has paved the way in other countries.
About 46 towns and villages in Malaysia are set to connect to the system in a US$10 million deal after Arcadian was certified and signed up by Telekom Malaysia – helped by
communication minister Lim Keng Yaik who this month said he was committed to ensuring the Penang made system was promoted throughout the developing world.
Mr Wise said Thailand was preparing for initial installations and Cape Range had its eye on India and China.
On the home front, Cape Range - which has its corporate headquarters in West perth and its main base in Malaysia through a subsidiary - was looking to try out the system in
Australia and New Zealand with the view to providing services to rural and remote areas.
It was also discussing a partnership with West Perth IT firm Comdek to link up to mining communities.
The Arcadian system uses a base station to act as a gateway to a telephone network and a remote unit to receive signals farther out. Each remote unit can support up to 2500 subscribers.
Further base stations could connect to a remote unit, allowing the next village to join the network and potentially span a whole country. "It's a telephone network in a box," Mr Wise said.
The system could be solar powered and did not use much electricity, which was often unreliable in the target areas
The remote stations could be kept in a house and did not need special storage conditions, such as air-conditioning, or specialist technical knowledge.
Arcadian's wireless nature meant it had lower infrastructure costs than other networks and it could travel easily over water.
Mr Wise said an initial challenge during development was how the platform could carry voice and data without compromising the quality and speed of either. Using a digital signal processor and an internet-based system, no bandwidth was wasted and data could be transmitted during gaps in the voice signal, allowing the same quality as a normal telephone line.
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At a dinner celebrating Cape Range's Bangladesh deal this month, PeoplesTel managing director Tim Nurun Nabi said the carrier would be able to provide urban-quality services to
rural areas at 50 per cent less than the normal tariffs charged by other telcos' The dinner was attended by 11 ambassadors from African and Asian countries who expressed interest in Cape Range's showcase system in Langkawi.
Cape Range shares have failed to crack the 5c mark since last June, a far cry from the 60c peak during the dotcom glory days of 2000. Yesterday they closed unchanged at 4.1c.
Ron Wise: Says the technology aims to bridge the "digital divide" between developed and remote
areas. Picture: Ian Ferguson
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