Diamond-rich capital of Eastern Sierra Leone deploys InfiNet's wireless solutions to provide high-speeds to enterprise networks

Koidu is the capital and largest city of the diamond-rich Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The fourth largest city in Sierra Leone by population and home to one of the largest pit diamond mines in the country, Koidu regularly suffers from fast changing and harsh weather conditions, ranging from heat to rain and extreme humidity.

AI Networks Limited is a leading provider of data transmission via its wireless infrastructure for applications such as LAN/WAN connectivity, video streaming and voice communication for the West-African market. Its customers include banks, non-governmental organizations and various businesses in the province. Prior to the deployment of InfiNet’s solutions, many of AI Networks’ clients experienced frequent problems delivering their respective services due to major network outages of their legacy 7 and 13 GHz microwave platforms. These were simply not able to operate seamlessly and reliably due to the prevailing weather conditions.

AI Networks decided it needed to address these connectivity problems brought on by the adverse weather effects. It knew it had to select the latest and most reliable technologies possible to help significantly increase its total network capacity, enabling it to not only deliver more services but guarantee higher availability and performance. It selected InfiNet Wireless as its strategic technology partner as part of a major overhaul of its network. The selection of InfiNet was based on the well-proven and future-proofed solutions it offers, coupled with its ability to operate in all types of climates without any signal degradation or loss of performance.

The company’s InfiLINK 2×2 high capacity Point-to-Point (PTP) solution was initially deployed in two separate areas of Koidu to provide connectivity in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions to deliver up to 280 Mbps net — which exceeded all expectations. Additional links were later deployed to connect locations across long distances, typically up to 90 km. For much shorter distances and in order to deliver last mile connectivity, Al Networks opted for InfiNet’s LITE solutions, a cost-effective family of PTP units capable of reaching distances of up to 10 km whilst still delivering capacities of up to 300 Mbps. All of the PTP solutions are able to guarantee full Quality of Service (QoS) and support the simultaneous transmission of multiple types of services.

AI Networks now provides reliable connectivity to all its corporate customers, delivering more revenue-generating services and significantly improving customer satisfaction. The challenges previously associated to the adverse weather conditions in the province are now all in the past, thanks to InfiNet’s robust infrastructure and technical support at all stages of the deployment.

Alvin Emerson-Thomas, Technical Director at AI Networks expressed his appreciation and confidence in the InfiNet range of solutions deployed in his new network and said: «Since we expanded our existing infrastructure with InfiNet Wireless solutions, our customers have expressed great satisfaction and can now focus on delivering their services to their own customers. InfiNet’s solutions are without a doubt the best we could find in today’s marketplace for tackling radio interference issues and unpredictable weather conditions. We are now actively promoting our services in the entire country, knowing that we can meet and exceed all customers’ expectations. The feedback we are receiving every day is excellent. The InfiNet team’s support has been tremendous, and we just cannot thank them enough for what they have done for us, and the town of Koidu.»