Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 19 | Page 41

COUNTRY FOCUS: LEVANT In terms of cost, to date we have invested approximately US$500K in upgrading our wireless infrastructure. Can you provide reasons as to why InfiNet Wireless were the stand-out partner for this project? InfiNet Wireless offers a reliable and high-capacity network which is easy to install and maintain with a high performance v cost ratio. What would you say are the specific business results generated by the project? One of the most immediate benefits of switching to InfiNet has been the ability to serve customers more efficiently. With Connect’s Wi-Fi based PTP links, we had to connect all customers in a Point-to-Point topology, which is not only cumbersome to manage but also expensive to procure and deploy. This is no longer the case with the InfiMAN 2x2 platform. All we need to do now is set up a sector and they can provide, almost instantly, a large number of customers with high bandwidth connectivity, all achieved without disrupting any other customer or the larger network. The most noticeable benefit of the InfiNet solution though, has been the reliability of the network. Prior to InfiNet, we routinely had network outages with their previous Wi-Fi based PTP equipment which was a drain on our financial and human resources and had a noticeable negative effect on our business growth and reputation. With the InfiNet solution, we no longer have any downtime or performance loss, ultimately giving us the confidence that we can provide our customers with the best-in-class wireless network and truly saved their business. www.intelligentcio.com What impact will this investment have with regards to your customers? With the InfiNet wireless network, we will be better able to serve our premium residential and corporate customers’ demand for high- bandwidth as the InfiNet solution, particularly the InfiLINK XG, is capable of reaching a peak net throughput of 500 Mbps in 40 MHz of spectrum and more than 130 Mbps in only 10 MHz. Can you elaborate on other IT systems and solutions used in this upgrade? In order to monitor bandwidth consumption and billing for our premium residential and corporate customers, we had to deploy a Remote Authentication Dial- In Service (RADIUS) which is a networking protocol that allows us to centrally manage authentication, authorisation and accounting (AAA) for these customers. Can you describe other recent ICT project initiatives at Mada Connect and how they have served as a business purpose? At Connect, in addition to upgrading our wireless infrastructure, there have been two significant in-house ICT projects that have had a marked impact on business productivity. About two years ago we developed and implemented an in-house CPE management server, based on TR069 protocol, in order to remotely manage our WiMAX Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) Then about a year ago, we also developed and deployed an in-house workflow solution that allows us to improve visibility and transparency between departments and provide a link between sales and activation of corporate customers. ¡ INTELLIGENTCIO 41