Pearl Valley Golf Estate is a prestigious lifestyle estate situated in one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa. In keeping with this status, it offers a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, which was voted one of the top five courses in the country. It has hosted the South African Open Championship, the second oldest open in the world, several times with distinction.
APC was introduced to Pearl Valley's Management Team by Olipro, APC's PBX and VOIP partner.
The challenge
Pearl Valley required a reliable bandwidth link on the estate to run data, VOIP and a network of security cameras. The existing fixed-line infrastructure on site did not meet their current and future communications requirements for the business.
APC also needed to provide a stable and reliable link to connect the sites, which are several kilometres apart in mountainous terrain. Finally, the solution needed to be competitively priced, providing high quality service and reach. Cost savings also needed to be specified, to offset the capital outlay for a standalone network. The solution needed to provide independence from a fixed-line provider, allowing greater freedom for the future and to allow for easy expansion of the network.
Our solution
APC designed, priced and presented a solution to the customer for approval. This was based on a desktop model, and later confirmed by on-site testing, prior to installation. In order to accommodate the complexity of linking over a mountain, the installation was split into two phases.
Once APC SA had received confirmation from the client, the first phase of the project was completed within a week, including the successful installation of all devices and testing of the links. The second phase was more complicated due to the location of the links being over 40km apart and separated by a mountain. In order to achieve the connection, APC successfully negotiated to mount a link on a tower on the mountain and connect to a suitable ISP, from which the required level of bandwidth could be delivered.
Talking about the installation, APC SA Manager, Damon Palframan commented: "A further aspect of consideration was the approval required to allow for the mounting of two radio units on the Simonsberg and La Farge towers. From a technical perspective, the design and planning for the installation of these two antennas on a structure with existing wireless links was key to the success. Despite these difficulties, APC was able to achieve a connection speed in excess of 10Mbps."
The result
The customer's business requirements were fully met by APC's solution. By utilising VOIP, the customer achieved a reduced cost of incoming and outgoing calls.
Due to the consistent bandwidth made available by the solution, the sharing of data, transferring of files and live streaming from the Internet were all made possible. The internal connection is also enabled to run the CCTV (security camera network) between the sites.
Without ongoing monthly maintenance fees associated with leased line connectivity, the client will achieve ROI in 2.5 years and has full possession of the line and equipment, vital for expanding the connection should the need arise.
Pearl Valley also plans to install a third phase of the project that will include internal WiFi at the clubhouse and potentially PTMP in the future to the residents on the estate.
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