Modern communication in remote communities
Prysmian – using global solutions and expertise to modernise communication systems in remote communities in New Zealand.
The Te Urewera Fibre Installation project, which forms part of the New Zealand Government Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) School program, is another successful project supported by Prysmian. The project saw fibre supplied to 3 rural schools and more communities in in the Te Urewera area.
For the project, Prysmian New Zealand sourced products and solutions within the Prysmian network, to help overcome numerous infrastructure and installation challenges to modernise the communication systems in the remote Te Urewera area.
It was decided that an aerial installation would be best suited for the environment and therefore the only practical way to erect the cable on nearly all of the power lines was by helicopter.
Infrastructure challenges that needed to be overcome included:
- The Te Urewera landscape consists of steep, rugged hills and native bush making access by land difficult. The winding roads are unsealed.
- Power polls can be far apart with the longest span being 1100m (compared to the typical urban aerial span of 40m). This demanded a different type of cabling that was outside the regular product portfolio.
Installation challenges that needed to be overcome included:
- The power poles along the hilltop-to-hilltop route were difficult to access due to many of the vehicle tracks being overgrown with vegetation.
- Helicopter installation brought with it a number of interesting parameters
Prysmian used their strengths as a global supplier in sourcing cabling which would rise to the challenge and provided Chorus with our Long Span All Dielectric Self-Supporting (ADSS) cable from our Spanish Draka affiliate which allowed for the suspension of cables for spans over 1000m. Our team was also able to offer on-the-spot advice when customers were dealing with unexpected issues during installation.
The furthest community served by the new fibre cable is Ruatahuna, the heartland for the Tuhoe Iwi (tribe). The telephone service here, prior to this optical fibre installation, was an old multi-access radio system which was known to periodically go off-line over long cloudy winters and made the supply of broadband impossible. The combined teamwork of all the parties involved has ensured access to broadband for multiple communities in the Te Urewera area and Prysmian is proud to have played a key role.
The Te Urewera project is illustrative of the Prysmian’s commitment to connecting communities through our state-of-the-art technology and worldwide reach.
To learn more about this project and initiative please contact:
Roger Peryer
National Business Manager - Telco
Prysmian New Zealand Ltd
T: +64 9 827 9874
M: +64 27 606 6563