Case Studies

HEANET: Full speed ahead in the Gaeltacht as AirSpeed Telecom and HEAnet boost local bandwidth by 50 times


 

As the provider of nationwide networking services to Ireland's higher education sector, as well as to Irish primary and secondary schools, HEAnet caters to one of the most demanding, most dynamic customer bases in Ireland. As the appetite among colleges and universities grows for bandwidth-hungry services like video conferencing and voice over IP, HEAnet needs to ensure it can deliver the speeds, the quality and the quality assurance its customers expect.  AirSpeed Telecom, HEAnet's newest supplier, is using its unique technology to help HEAnet deliver on its mission in one of the most remote and rugged areas of Ireland. 

 

It was in 2007 that HEAnet went to tender for infrastructure connectivity services in the Gaeltacht.  The tender was part of a larger nationwide RFP as HEAnet moved to significantly upgrade the capacity it could offer its customers, who include all the major universities, colleges and institutes of technology. NUI Galway and the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in particular needed better connectivity for some of their sites in the region, who either had 2Mbps leased lines or, at best, ADSL connectivity at no more than 3Mbps.

 

The Gaeltacht portion of the tender was unique.  The successful bidder would need to build out infrastructure that would equip nine remote locations with unprecedented bandwidth of up to 155Mbps. And the company would also need to be willing and able to work with Údarás na Gaeltachta, the region's development authority, to use the new infrastructure to offer circuits to local businesses.  Údarás had agreed to co-fund setup costs of the new infrastructure and was keen that local companies could use the region's new bandwidth to their advantage. 

 

AirSpeed Telecom chosen from a competitive field

 

After examining and evaluating the responses to the tender, HEAnet chose AirSpeed Telecom, a supplier it had never worked with before, as winner of the contract. 

"AirSpeed Telecom was the first choice because its design met our requirements, it was very economically viable, and we felt the company exhibited good potential as a new HEAnet supplier," recalls Owen Byrne, Project Manager for HEAnet. 

 

Owen says the decision has proven to be a very good one, and rollout is now complete:

 

  • AirSpeed Telecom designed and provisioned a brand new licensed wireless network using microwave radio technology to service sites in the Gaeltacht selected by NUI Galway and GMIT. 
  • 155 Mbps bandwidth now serves eight sites in Galway and one in Clare.
  • The bandwidth is up to 50 times greater than the fastest speeds previously available to the sites using ADSL. 
  • HEAnet commends AirSpeed Telecom's ability and willingness to liaise so successfully with a wide and complex group of stakeholders, including contacts in NUI Galway, GMIT and HEAnet.  AirSpeed Telecom has also linked directly with Údarás na Gaeltachta and its client companies, a number of whom have already agreed to purchase capacity on the new infrastructure from AirSpeed Telecom. 
  • HEAnet's chief technology officer particularly commends AirSpeed Telecom's professionalism and its technical expertise.  "One thing we noted was that AirSpeed Telecom deployed all of its own staff at all levels, for project management and installation," said Mike Norris, CTO HEAnet.  "We weren't dealing with third parties here, and that was a big advantage in this case."
  • Mike and his colleagues also comment that the quality of the AirSpeed Telecom network has actually surpassed their expectations, and they paid its technology probably the highest possible compliment, saying that it performs "like fibre."

 

 

In addition to the very large gains in bandwidth that we expected over traditional DSL, a very welcome qualitative improvement has also been observed," Owen Byrne says. "The latency/jitter values and bit error rates measured between HEAnet's point of presence (PoP) in NUI Galway and the remote Gaeltacht sites are comparable to those we'd expect via fibre over similar distances. NUI Galway and GMIT can be confident that this network, delivered via AirSpeed Telecom infrastructure, will support time critical applications such as voice over IP and video conferencing facilities."

 

Testing of the circuits is now being completed and NUI Galway and GMIT are now taking possession of the circuits for the 2008-2009 academic year. 

 

AirSpeed Telecom: providing a major infrastructural asset for the West of Ireland 

 

Time will tell the true impact of this unprecedented communications infrastructure on the Gaeltacht region.  But with the eight sites in Galway alone now collectively boasting aggregate bandwidth commensurate with that serving some of Ireland's largest universities, whom have thousands of  users, there are intriguing possibilities for cutting edge educational applications -- and for the long-term viability of all kinds of local businesses, which terrestrial telecoms firms have never been able to reach with affordable, reliable services at these speeds and quality levels.

 

Owen Byrne said that HEAnet is also pleased that the new infrastructure will allow it to provide connectivity into these regions for other HEAnet clients, in Dublin, Cork and elsewhere across the country. 

 

He also notes that licensed wireless has matured into a technology with a tremendous amount to offer to HEAnet and its client base. 

 

"Prior to this, we had one or two other sites using licensed wireless, but never at the speeds AirSpeed Telecom is offering, and not in sites as geographically remote as Connemara," he explains. "We've since ordered additional circuits from AirSpeed Telecom in Dublin and Wicklow.  It's certainly a technology that we're more than willing and happy to use when we see a need for it."

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

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In addition to the very large gains in bandwidth that we expected over traditional DSL, a very welcome qualitative improvement has also been observed… comparable to what we\\\'d expect via fibre over similar distances.
Owen Byrne
Project Manager, HEAnet


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