Optus has supplied eight additional cell on wheels (CoW) antennas to the NSW Telco Authority, boosting the potential reach of the agency’s emergency services network.
The ruggedised Kymeta U8 flat panel antennas were delivered as part of an expanded partnership with the agency, announced by Optus on Wednesday.
The additional antenna mean the NSW Telco Authority now has the “largest fleet of Kymeta antennas in Australia”.
Optus already provides the NSW Telco Authority with its managed satellite network for “radio-over-IP traffic, as well as 4G traffic, for fixed, deployable and temporary locations”.
The telco said the antenna would allow emergency services agencies across the state to access the NSW Telco Authority’s network “anywhere within the Optus Satellite footprint”.
They will allow the agency to “establish a virtual point-of-presence, supporting critical communications even when existing infrastructure has been compromised”.
“The solution is also easy to deploy with minimal technical expertise and will primarily support data connectivity for deployable CoW infrastructure,” Optus added.
Enterprise and business managing director Gladys Berejiklian said Optus is “proud to play such a big part” in supporting the agency’s critical communications infrastructure needs.
“This infrastructure keeps NSW’s emergency services connected so they can continue to carry out the essential work that they do in our regional communities,” she said.
Berejiklian, NSW’s former Premier, joined the Optus earlier this year after resigning from politics amid an investigation by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.
She has been tasked with transforming the telco’s approach to business customers.