CASE STUDY
L
asernet was established in 2003 with
the vision of providing the media
industry with high-speed connectivity.
The company’s aim is to facilitate large-
scale data transfers between media agents
and broadcasters. At the time the company
was set up, the only cost-effective options
available on the market were very limited
with many lines being expensive to install.
This meant only large companies could
justify the expense.
There was a gap in the market for providing
reliable and high capacity connectivity at an
affordable price. Lasernet set about creating
an entirely wireless-based infrastructure in
three South African major Central Business
Districts (CBDs): Cape Town, Johannesburg
and Durban.
EVEN IN THE THICK CLOUD OF SMOKE
AND INTENSE HEAT GIVEN OFF BY THE
FIRES, THE INFINET LINKS REMAINED
UNAFFECTED THROUGHOUT
THE ORDEAL.
Over the following years, Lasernet deployed
a nationwide platform consisting of a
combination of free space optics links from
fSONA of Canada and additional radio
equipment. While the lasers operated at
100Mbps – a staggering speed at that
time – they were susceptible to adverse
weather conditions such as fog and required
continuous back-up from a radio unit
delivering a limited 20Mbps.
As the project moved on and technology
improved, Lasernet was able to find an
alternative source of reliable wireless solutions
and gradually replaced the infrastructure with
alternative radio technologies. The company’s
management was later introduced to the
InfiNet Wireless range of products. After a few
weeks of successful testing in the field, they
made the strategic decision to standardise
their core infrastructure on InfiNet’s solutions.
Since then, Lasernet has been operating its
entire video delivery platform exclusively on
InfiNet Wireless equipment.
LASERNET’S COVERAGE CURRENTLY
SPANS BACKHAUL LINKS RANGING
FROM 5KM TO 27KM.
In 2014, Lasernet was awarded a sought-
after project to lay a new fibre infrastructure
for the entire municipal district of Knysna,
South Africa. Running concurrently with the
fibre roll-out project, Lasernet was able to
further extend their wireless infrastructure
using InfiNet Wireless’s solutions to provide
coverage into Knysna. This meant that
for an area that had been limited to ADSL
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connectivity only for many years, the
promise of fast, reliable and affordable
wireless connectivity was eagerly welcomed;
the planning and actual installation moved
forward very quickly with the support and
open arms of the local community.
Lasernet’s coverage currently spans backhaul
links ranging from 5km to 27km. The new
platform has made use of multiple high sites,
including tall buildings, masts and water
towers in the coverage area. Some 70%
of the town has been reached using high
capacity base stations and there are currently
more than 120 end users operating across
this broad base of the Lasernet network based
on InfiNet Wireless.
In June 2017, Knysna was devastated by a
quickly spreading fire that burnt for weeks.
Most of, if not all, the copper and fibre
infrastructures in the area were destroyed,
including the telephone and internet
exchanges. During the height of the disaster,
an emergency command centre was set up to
deal with the fire fighting and relief activities.
Given that the operation of the legacy fixed
telecommunication network was severely
hampered due to the damage inflicted by the
fires, Lasernet’s wireless infrastructure was
used instead to co-ordinate the activities of
all the emergency organisations working in
the area, all requiring reliable means of voice
communication, data transfers and
video transmission.
Despite the intense heat and smoke from
the fire, the InfiNet-based infrastructure
remained unaffected throughout the
duration of this disaster, with no effect on
stability and throughput. Seamless and
uninterrupted wireless connectivity meant
that the municipality was indeed able
to provide its relief efforts, which was for
communicating to residents and visitors vital
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