Mason Communications, part of the Datatec group, has announced that it has secured three high-profile engagements in the UK and Europe that require the firm to demonstrate its cutting-edge skills in telecommunications consulting.
The value of two of the projects is lb5 million and lb6 million respectively, while in a third engagement Mason has helped a customer secure savings of lb10 million.
In Liverpool, Mason Communications is programme-managing the installation of more than 200 cameras in the city centre and surrounding areas.
The project also involves the creation of a new control room, where 60 TV screens monitor images from the cameras 24 hours a day. In an innovative development, 12 of the camera poles will include "help points" facilitating direct contact with the control room.
In another engagement, Mason Communications played a central role in helping ElectraLink, a provider of network and communication services to electricity and gas utilities, save lb10 million on its managed network services over the next five years.
ElectraLink accepted Mason`s recommendation to embark on a formal procurement process to solicit proposals from other service providers when the existing contract expired. Mason helped to evaluate the responses on service levels, network performance and cost, with EDS being chosen as the new service provider. The new service level agreement offers substantial improvements in network performance for ElectraLink`s users as well as dramatic cost savings.
Says Dave Mutton, chief executive of ElectraLink: "The team at Mason developed an excellent understanding of our customers` communication needs. Their in-depth knowledge of the market and technologies was key to delivering this impressive saving for our business and our users."
Mason Communications is also playing a continuing role in a lb6 million European Commission project to overcome the two major bottlenecks for telecom operators.
The HARMONICS project is working on providing bandwidth on demand on core networks in Europe, and on migrating existing last-mile access networks, or deploying new wireless networks.
High capacities have been deemed necessary to allow each household to receive three MPEG video channels simultaneously (assuming a demand of 5Mbps each). The remaining 10Mbps of downstream capacity is considered necessary to enable other services such as Internet, interactive gaming and multi-party conferencing.
A core part of Mason`s ongoing work is to evaluate a business case for operators, based on detailed technical design and associated capital expenditure, together with commercial and operational considerations including operational expenditure. Mason was selected because of its experience and knowledge in techno-economic evaluation of new technologies such as GSM to UMTS migration.
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Datatec is an international networking and IT services group with operations in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. The group generates more than 95% of its revenue in hard currency outside SA.
The group provides active management support in the strategic direction and operation of its subsidiaries and has three principal lines of business:
Westcon, a global channel provider of advanced networking, security, data and voice communications and convergence products, based in the US and the largest distributor worldwide of equipment in this sector, with operations in many countries;
Logical, an international professional services and IT network integration group headquartered in London and with operations in more than 10 countries; and Mason, a leading European telecommunications and IT convergence consultancy providing business solutions to public and private sector organisations worldwide. Mason`s key services include strategic and business planning; procurement and outsourcing; design and engineering; programme and project management; network optimisation and training courses.
The group also has similarly focused operations in SA. These are Westcon AME, Affinity Logic and RangeGate.
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