Telstra's Next G goes Big Brother with remote monitoring

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 08 April 2008 10:06

Opinion and Analysis

Got CDMA monitoring equipment and worried it won’t work with Next G? Stop worrying – it won’t work, so Telstra has worked with the University of New England, RMCam and Canon to bring vision and telemetry services to you, but naturally it means buying new equipment.

Let’s face it – no matter how long the Australian Federal Government decides to extend the CDMA network for, it’s a goner.

Now, whether that’s a good thing, or a bad thing, the reality is that there are people out there using telemetry equipment connected to the CDMA network to monitor non-video data such as rainfall, wind speed, soil moisture and water temperature.

Of course, when you’re connected to an HSPA 3.5G network, and a camera, you can do more than just telemetry – you can do video, too.

Telstra says it's a “revolution”, and it’s all thanks to Next G.

Telstra says that “the wide coverage and higher data speeds of the Next G network” could - although you’d think they’d say ‘would’ – “open up new opportunities for businesses across Australia to monitor and control remote sites without leaving their home or office.”

Telstra Country Wide’s Director, Gary Goldsworthy, said Next G “provided high quality video streaming and enabled users to control remote cameras or equipment from where they had an internet connection”, and added that “remote telemetry, which uses wireless technology to monitor and report data, is enhanced on Telstra's Next G network. This provides businesses with a huge potential to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs and provide superior real time information”.

Telstra’s work with Canon, who provided the cameras, and the University of New England (UNE) who helped developed the RMCam, made the new solution possible.

Goldsworthy said that: "The UNE's RMCam product for example, is a remote monitoring solution developed to deliver vision and telemetry services with the key benefits being the mitigation of travel time, personnel expenses and maximising opportunity cost savings associated with staff and capital re-deployment”.

Interestingly, the RMCam site notes that Next G still might not be enough in all situations. Their site notes that: “The unit can be configured to provide wireless broadband internet coverage at the camera site.  Next G coverage will be augmented in areas of low coverage through an integrated satellite modem as an option from 2008.”

So, what are some specific examples where the new solution will outdo CDMA based telemetry solutions? Please read onto page 2.