South Africa is well known as an important global partner at the forefront of astronomy, with both optical and radio astronomy centres finding a home in the country’s sparsely populated Northern Cape. Local communities surrounding the Radio Astronomy Project, known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Radio Telescope, have had to pay the price, however, by losing connectivity, to prevent noise interference on the array. Now an innovative partnership between Altron Nexus and Telviva has reconnected local farmers, SKA staffers and emergency services to the rest of the world.
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), which is a facility of the National Research Foundation, manages all the radio astronomy initiatives in the country, including the SKA. Radio astronomy requires radio silence for frequencies above 200 MHz, and for facilities to be built in remote,
high-lying regions. Terrestrial radio signals interfere with the signals received from deep space, which puts the science that is reshaping our understanding of the universe at risk.
Radio silence means that all radio frequencies that interfere with the telescope are banned, including cell phone networks and devices that produce radio waves. In a region where there are no analogue Telkom lines, the implication is that outside the confines of small towns where cell coverage is permitted, there is nothing except satellite communication. This comes at a significant cost as it has a negative effect on communities who are unable to communicate or respond to emergencies such as wildfires, crime and more.
A few years ago, SARAO enlisted Altron Nexus to provide a solution for this challenge. Altron Nexus runs the largest critical communications network in Africa and provides coverage to various bodies, for example law enforcement. The company builds infrastructure that could facilitate radio communication in a small frequency band which is invisible and inaudible to the telescope.
Deon De Villiers, business unit head for Altron Nexus in the Western Cape, explains: “We were requested to develop and provide a two-way radio network for the SKA itself and the surrounding community to replace the GSM networks – we were required to transmit below 200 MHz. Over the past five years we have built infrastructure which includes four high sites in the towns of Williston, Brandvlei, Vanwyksvlei and Carnarvon which serve SKA staff, farming communities, municipalities, emergency services and disaster management.”
“Telviva provides a platform to connect with the outside world. The infrastructure – the towers – are connected to a main switching office (MSO) in Woodmead, Johannesburg with Altron Nexus and from that platform, we break out into the Telviva platform which provides telephony connectivity to the rest of the world,” he explains.
De Villiers says the impact on the farmers and surrounding communities has been profound and immediate. The companies now have plans to extend the system to other communities for special use cases such as maritime communications.
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