Internode uses solar power to broadband rural Coorong

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 27 September 2006 04:13

Business IT - Networking

Adelaide-based  ISP, Internode, says it has provided virtually 100 per cent broadband coverage throughout South Australia's Coorong District, an 8800-square km region with just 6000 people, using a combination of ADSL2+ and solar-powered microwave links.

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The Coorong Project has been funded by Federal, State and local government resources and Internode says it made "a substantial cash and expertise contribution."

Internode has installed ADSL2+ broadband in the telephone exchanges at Meningie, Tailem Bend, Coonalpyn and Tintinara. To reach people in smaller townships and on farms, Internode and the council have built microwave radio towers that deliver Internode Wireless broadband. Of the 17 towers, 12 are self-powered through the use of $12,000 power systems that feature solar arrays, charge controllers and high capacity batteries.  Internode claims to have designed these solar wireless access nodes (SWAN) and says they have enough battery capacity to run for several days without significant sunlight, and are fully remote monitored.

Internode managing director, Simon Hackett, said the solar-powered towers were vital to deliver a financially sustainable broadband network in a regional area. “We designed a network with low running costs to meet the broadband needs of a low population density in this large area,” he said.

“The beauty of the SWAN units is that they can deliver broadband services into rural areas at a relatively low capital cost, as long as backhaul is available. From the Coorong, we built our own backhaul channel to Adelaide, giving us end-to-end control over the costs of our network.”