GSM system supplied to Tanzanian mine

17 July 2002 News

Webb Industries has designed and supplied a system to provide GSM communications to Ashanti Gold Mine, a remote mine in Tanzania.

Ashanti is located in Gaita, south of Lake Victoria, and is surrounded by hills that obstruct the GSM signal. To overcome this, Webb designed and supplied communications hardware that uses its MIKOM frequency shift repeater to provide GSM cellphone reception throughout the mine.

Webb also designed the link and supplied special antennas to Ashanti. The MIKOM frequency shifting repeater equipment enhances coverage in the GSM network providing clear reception over long distances. The system consists of two repeaters, a BTS unit and the remote unit. The BTS unit is sited within the coverage area of the base station and provides a signal to the remote units. The remote unit receives these signals over long distances and provides the connection to the mobile phones.

One of the major difficulties in completing this project was the remote nature of the site. Webb personnel said they had to travel by 4x4 and ferry from the nearest airport to the site.

The company has successfully completed several major projects in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa. On behalf of Celtel of Tanzania, Webb provided a similar communications equipment installation at Mount Kilimanjaro for a sugar plant and is currently completing another communications system at Arusha for an international summit to be held shortly. Further afield in Dar es Salaam, the company is busy with the design of a communications system for a new hotel which requires an indoor coverage system.

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