Mobile solution provider Blue Arcus and satellite operator Speedcast have announced their selection for an end-to-end 4G LTE and fixed IP network upgrade on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific. The multi-million dollar full-turnkey carrier-grade solution will involve migrating the remote territory’s sole telco Norfolk Island Telecom from a 2G mobile voice/data network to LTE-based high speed mobile data services with 3G for voice calls via circuit switch fallback (CSFB), alongside upgrading the legacy PSTN system to a new fixed IP network. Island-wide 4G mobile coverage is promised, while a fully converged OCS system will also be integrated for a ‘seamless customer billing and revenue management system’ for all of Norfolk Island Telecom’s services, a press release from US-based Blue Arcus added. In a separate press release, Speedcast said its project contract for Norfolk Island was worth USD3 million including 4G mobile infrastructure and PSTN softswitch with fibre backhaul and multi-service access nodes.
Alistair Innes-Walker, Manager of Commercial Services at Norfolk Island Regional Council – which owns Norfolk Island Telecom – said of the project: ‘We need to keep up with the increasing data requirements of our people and tourists at a competitive price and provide faster, reliable internet connections and advanced mobile services. One of the only suppliers who could deliver on our requirements with an end-to-end turnkey, carrier-grade solution was the partnership of Blue Arcus and Speedcast assuring us access to a high speed 4G LTE network.’ Naren Yanamadala, CEO of Blue Arcus – which has existing partnerships with Speedcast in other remote territories – declared that the duo aimed to create ‘future-proof Smart Islands by offering cutting-edge broadband and mobile services’.
Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia, 1,400km east of the New South Wales north coast. In May 2015 Australia’s parliament voted to revoke Norfolk Island’s autonomy, under which the territory had been governed by its own legislative assembly since 1979, and the new Regional Council took office in July 2016.