Antarctic Gets GSM

SINGAPORE -- Leading maritime, aeronautical and remote communications solutions company, Altobridge, (CommunicAsia, Stand 6F3-01), has installed a Remote GSM Solution at Australia’s Antarctic station for its resident scientific team at ‘Casey’ on the continent’s Bailey Peninsula.

The Altobridge solution can operate as a standard GSM service and is specifically designed for remote, cost-effective, community communication. The system consists of a standard GSM BTS (Base Transceiver System) and a remote server running Altobridge’s patented AM Gateway Platform™. This server interfaces to the BTS and manages the local GSM handsets and also interfaces with the available satellite link, in this case the ANARESAT (an Intelsat service) network connecting back to Hobart, Tasmania.

This trial service will enable the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) to experience the benefits of remote wireless communications and provides vital feedback to the Altobridge R&D team in Ireland, answering some important questions, including:

CEO of Altobridge, Mike Fitzgerald, said, “This implementation of the Altobridge AM Gateway Platform in the Antarctic demonstrates that there is no site too remote, no conditions too extreme and most importantly no ROI outside the reach of our solution. Viable small-community communication for subscribers of less than 100 is now available to operators.”

The system was installed at Casey by the station personnel; it configures automatically and has a special operation and maintenance capability for remote support. In this case, support came from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) based in Hobart, Tasmania and the Altobridge support team based in Ireland.The Altobridge system has now been launched successfully in each of its three main markets; aeronautical, maritime and remote community.

In a separate release:

SINGAPORE -- Having established itself as a world leader in the development of personal mobile communications for the aeronautical industry, Irish mobile communication software company, Altobridge, (CommunicAsia, Stand 6F3-01), now makes it possible for people in remote communities and the crews onboard maritime vessels across the world’s oceans, to communicate using standard mobile phones. Both these latest applications are crucially important to the nations and economies of the Asia-Pacific.

Part of the Irish National Pavilion at CommunicAsia 2005 (Stand 6F3-01), Kerry Technology Park-based Altobridge is showcasing it’s patented AM Gateway Platform™ in Singapore, a key enabling technology for the Asia-Pacific Region that will deliver personal cellular communications to these communities and vessels where mobile telephony is currently not possible.

The AM Gateway Platform offers the huge number of communities, such as rural villages or remote agricultural/industrial outposts, standard mobile communications consistent with that of the larger cities and towns. Key to the success of this architecture is Altobridge’s ability to do this cost effectively, stripping traditional overhead costs. Standard low-cost mobile phones can now be channeled through to these small communities where the number of potential subscribers may be as low as only 50 to 100 subscribers.

Altobridge CEO, Mike Fitzgerald, said, “The Altobridge AM Gateway can provide the critical driver for economic development within these communities, enabling standard mobile communications. I lived in Asia and delivered the first GSM networks over a decade ago, although today, huge numbers of remote communities remain locked outside the global telecommunications network.”

Altobridge