I-Fusion selected as official network provider for ITU Telecom Africa 2001

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has selected I-Fusion to provide its entire network for the ITU Telecom Africa 2001 event.

I-Fusion is responsible for the design, implementation, operation and support of the LAN/WAN network, and aims to provide a reliable communications infrastructure for the networking of PCs and printers of the ITU staff, exhibitors, the event registration system, press centre, ITU stand, forum rooms and Internet cafes.

Luis Rodrigues, head of Information Exchange at the ITU, explains that I-Fusion was selected based on its existing customer references and networking expertise. "I-Fusion met all of the criteria stipulated in the bid document and exhibited the highest level of networking resources. The proposed technical solution fulfilled all the ITU requirements and demonstrated an excellent level of expertise and know-how that led us to appoint I-Fusion as the official event network sponsor."

Ron Sackstein, CEO of I-Fusion, says: "Taking place as it does in - and for - the region of the world that most needs increased telecommunications development, this event promises to be crucial in bridging the digital divide."

The network is segmented into three areas of security: high, medium and low. "The high security area will link to the ITU`s headquarters in Geneva and will encompass Internet access and e-mail, as well as intranet and database resources. The ITU will provide two dedicated terrestrial lines of up to 512Kbps each for this area, which will support up to 146 end-user connections and 15 server and router connections," he explains.

"The medium security area," continues Sackstein, "will link the high and low security areas and will make information available to exhibitors without compromising the high security segment. The low security area will link to the Internet and will include several NT domains to support the logon process and printing services for the press centre, Internet caf'e and event registration. The low security area will support up to 116 end-user connections and 12 connections for servers and routers."

The network requirements included the fact that the network must support a reliable LAN/WAN communications infrastructure and all IP-based protocols, and that the technology used for the backbone must be based on fast Ethernet (at least 100Mbps). Furthermore, all vital network equipment has to be equipped with a UPS and have on-site spares, and any faulty equipment must be replaced within one hour.

ITU Telecom Africa 2001 will be staged in Johannesburg, from 12 to 16 November 2001. It will be the ITU`s fifth regional event for Africa since the first one was held in 1986, and is the only telecommunications event hosted by the government this year.