AWT launches TETRA PIM analyzer: S1L TETRA MK2

ITRealms:

The AWT Global founded by AceWavetech has launched a new Passive Inter-modulation (PIM) analyzer for Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) and Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tagged S1L TETRA MK2 Series, reports ITRealms.

TETRA, formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver, popularly known as a walkie talkie.

ITRealms gathered that TETRA was specifically designed for use by government agencies, emergency services namely the police forces, fire departments, ambulance; for public safety networks, rail transportation staff for train radios, transport services and the military.

While the UHF is a designate of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 Mega Hertz (MHz) and 3 Gega Hertz (GHz).

President, AWT, Mr. Wolfgang Damm disclosed to ITRealms that the new PIM analyzers were designed for measuring TETRA and UHF networks in the 400 MHz frequency range.

“They come with a wide variety of test modes for different tasks including, field measurement mode, analyzer, multi PIM display, Rx sweep, PIM vs. time and single carrier mode for insertion loss (IL) and coverage measurements,” he said.

On the Distance-to-PIM option, he said, it has been embedded in the system, reconnecting antennas is not required, although lower frequencies have higher wavelengths, which demand larger sized components.

According to him, AWT’s engineers have managed to embed the complete system, including options into a compact and convenient single-body enclosure.

“TETRA or Terrestrial Trunked RAdio is used globally by many public safety organizations, such as police, fire departments, border patrol, cost guard and many more. It is mandatory that these networks work perfectly. The issue is here not just about a nuisance with low data transfer or dropped calls. Problematic emergency networks may cause people getting hurt and even lives are at stake,” Damm said, stressing  that TETRA utilizes sophisticated modulation schemes, thereby increasing data transmission rates, but this makes it unfortunately also more suceptibility to interferences.

Aa said by him, TETRA channel frequency configuration may cause cross band intermodulation problems, yet both issues make the PIM testing of networks paramount.

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Pix: S1L TETRA MK2 analyzers

CWG’s Tier-3 data center debuts in Lagos, unveils future direction

DigitalSENSE Business News:

Pan African Information and Communication Technology multinational, the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) plc, recently launched a Tier-3 ultra-modern data center in Lagos, just as the company unveiled its future direction, classified as CWG2.0, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.

The Group Chief Executive Officer, CWG plc, Mr. Austin Okere, told DigitalSENSE Business News at the event which saw to the unveiling of CWG 2.0 direction, revealed that the state of the art data center, located at Lekki phase 1, was specifically built for CWG’s cloud computing business, which has excess capacity to enterprises, especially banks for use as a disaster recovery data centre on a co-location basis, alongside growing online companies such as Jumia and Konga to avail themselves of the facility.

According to him, CWG’s data center has been equipped with what he described as N+1 power and environmental management infrastructure, with generate capacity of 0.7MVA. Stressing that this would ensure incoming main power is conditioned and available at all times, in addition to redundant and modular 250KVA Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Even as the UPS functions as bull-mark against power surges and blowout.

Okere speaking specially on CWG 2.0 noted that having majorly completed the pillars for Information Technology as a Service (ITaaS) strategy, by creating a platform for rapid Pan African growth and repositioning service model to cater to the new cloud computing mind-set, CWG is on target to achieve the objectives of being the the number 1 IT utility enabler on the continent.

By launching three cloud services in Nigeria, namely the MTN SaaS for Microfinance banks in conjunction with MTN Nigeria, the Diamond Yello Account bringing Financial inclusion to the 55 million MTN Mobile subscribers in partnership with MTN and Diamond Bank, and the CWG SMERP, which is a vertically modular Enterprise Resource Planning application for Micro, Small and Medium scale enterprises (MSME); which could be used on a subscription basis by hotels, hospitals, spare-parts dealers, and farmers among others.

“We consider the refocusing of our business into a subscription based model as a dual advantage play. In addition to being a more sustaining strategy, it maximizes our social impact investing on the economy of Africa, and helps to create jobs by empowering entrepreneurs. This in essence defines the new CWG plc, which we have christened CWG 2.0” he declared.

Okere also explained that MSMEs are regarded as the engine of economic growth, which statistically shows that there are 17m+ MSMEs in Nigeria.

“This compares overwhelmingly with the 260 listed companies on the stock exchange. Without accurate business records, they are unable to generate the accounting reports that banks and financial organizations can depend on to provide financing. Without credit, they are unable to grow their businesses aggressively,” he said, pointing out that CWG SMERP could provide these organizations with a strong foundation for growth and sustainability and also provide these firms the opportunity to exploit the internet to access a bigger market.

“The substantial cost of utilizing ICT is a big barrier for these firms to take advantage of ICT to grow their businesses,” Okere said.

On the explosive impact of MSME on the economy, Mr. Okere asserted, “… Do you that by just employing only one additional staff each, the 17m MSME would have created 17million jobs?’

He to DigitalSENSE Business News that present setup by CWG requires payment only on a subscription basis which completely removes the CAPEX requirements of ICT usage, adding that for effective nationwide coverage, CWG will use a franchise model to enable smaller IT firms and consultancies to assist the MSMEs as business support organizations, and by so doing spur a secondary growth in IT MSMEs which will create thousands of additional jobs.

Remmy Nweke

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Pix; Ndukwe cutting take of the data center (2) Ndukwe, Okere and Lanre Ajayi at the event.

Unitel, Ericsson demo first LTE-Advanced in Africa

ITRealms:

In effort at showcasing its advanced technology, Ericsson has partnered Angolan leading mobile operator, Unitel to demo on the first Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) in Africa, reports ITRealms.

The demonstration, ITRealms gathered is the first Africa’s data transmission on combined 

1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network on the continent.

Vice President, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, Magnus Mchunguzi, confirmed this to ITRealms, saying that by using LTE, operators could increase their network capacity and enhance the mobile broadband user experience, enabling up to 1Gbps data rates in the future.

“This demo places Unitel on the very limited list of operators in the world to demonstrate LTE-A in a live network using a commercial terminal. We are very proud to have partnered with Unitel in this achievement, further extending our long-standing relationship with Unitel,” Mchunguzi said.

Stressing that LTE advanced technology helps Unitel to match its spectrum assets, while enabling higher data speeds to increase network capacity and enhance end-user experience.

For the first time in Africa, Ericsson, together with Angola’s leading telecommunications provider Unitel, has successfully demonstrated LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Carrier Aggregation technology. The demonstration was done on both 1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network, using a commercial terminal, and took place on December 18, when Unitel transferred data across its live network in Luanda, Angola, carrying commercial traffic.

LTE Carrier Aggregation is the next step in the evolution of high-speed mobile broadband services, enabling operators to make the most of their existing spectrum assets by combining multiple spectrum bands to enable higher mobile broadband download speeds.

Amilcar Safeca, Deputy CEO of Unitel, said they will always innovate to enhance the customer experience. 

"With the global leap toward higher data access speeds for sophisticated video and mobility services; we are enhancing our network to ensure we continually provide high-quality services to our high-demanding subscriber base. With this demo, we are well on the way to launching the most advanced mobile network in Angola and perhaps Africa in the near future. We are working with Ericsson to make this happen,” Safeca said.

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