Centurion-based Grintek Telecom, a division of Grintek Group, recently made further inroads into the Netherlands when it supplied the Dutch Army with two Multi-channel Mini-M Expander systems. The two systems were custom designed to provide the Dutch army with rugged, virtually instant communications anywhere in the world.
The Dutch army is on standby to support the United Nations in Macedonia with emergency communications should it become necessary. The two Mini-M Expanders were customised for the army and delivered with special ridigidized aluminium carry-cases that will enable the systems to be flown to any destination in the world and deployed to full operational level within minutes.
Mini-M Expander is a locally produced product that has been uniquely developed, designed and manufactured in South Africa. It provides access to the International Dial-up Telephone, Fax and Data networks with up to six simultaneous channels. A single one-meter parabolic dish antenna can connect up to six separate Mini-M terminals.
"This system is ideal for military requirements like those of the Dutch army," says Erwin Schumann, Managing Director of Grintek Telecom. "They have to be highly mobile, but still be able to have access to totally reliable communications. Our system quite literally provides them with fast and dependable `communications on the fly`."
Schumann continues, "We have also taken into account that some army units may find themselves in pretty rough and inhospitable terrain. The parabolic antenna can easily be mounted on a pole, on top of roof structures or fixed against a wall. The outdoor equipment has been specifically designed to withstand the roughest weather conditions, humidity and corrosion."
The Mini-M expander provides the normal communications services such as voice, fax and data from almost any part of the world. These services can also be connected through any standard PABX or switchboard system. As the outdoor antenna is an approved high-gain system, airtime is significantly reduced, resulting in substantial cost savings.
These are not the first systems supplied by Grintek to the Netherlands. A similar Mini-M Expander, with another on order, has already been deployed to act as emergency back-up communications to cope with emergency conditions that occur in the Netherlands every year. These conditions arise from flood waters of snow that melt in the mountains of Germany and have to find their way to the ocean through the Netherlands.
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