Improved resilience and reliability of telecommunications operator Telkom’s network will benefit all local consumers beyond the 2010 FIFA World Cup, says Telkom Network Core Operations acting managing executive Leisel Ramjoo.
As part of its preparations for the sporting event, Telkom made several upgrades to its existing infrastructure.
However, Ramjoo emphasises that the upgrades were made in line with the group’s long-term strategic plans, and not only for the World Cup.
This meant that the roll-out of some of the already planned network upgrades had been brought forward, providing consumers with greater network resilience sooner.
“The infrastructure is part of our master plan and was not built especially for the World Cup; therefore, it will not become a white elephant.”
Ramjoo notes that the earlier roll-out of the automatically switched transport network (ASTN) had been critical to the success of the sporting event, as it allows for the automatic switching of traffic on the network when a problem occurs.
The ASTN was specifically chosen, owing to the fact that it seamlessly switches traffic when unforeseen failures occur on a part of the network.
Further, Telkom had to ensure 99,99% availability on the venue contribution network at the stadiums, says Ramjoo, adding that it achieved flawless broadcast delivery during the World Cup.
As part of its mandate for the event, Telkom’s communications network interconnected the ten host stadiums, all World Cup media centres, the international broadcast centre, the Local Organising Committee offices and the local and foreign FIFA offices.
Each of the stadiums had been provided with 40 GB of bandwidth, 20 GB for active use during the matches, and 20 GB as backup.
Meanwhile, besides the technological advantages of these upgrades, Ramjoo highlights, consumers will also, going forward, benefit from the intangible aspects of the preparations for the event.
Valuable learnings from the exercise will be applied to the continual process of improving Telkom’s day-to-day operations.