Lasernet chose Infinet products

Lasernet was selected by word of mouth and referral as a primary connectivity provider to specific third party clients for the World Cup 2010 that was hosted here. Lasernet have an extensive private network in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Our core business is the movement of large data files utilising our high speed point to point connectivity to our clients.

Associated to our data transfer capabilities are the added value services in the media industry, we provide teleconferencing, media streaming, data archiving and just recently the ability for live broadcast over IP. Lasernet have been operating in the media industry since 2005 and provide high speed connectivity to almost all post facilities, local broadcasters, as well as many SME and corporate clients. In 2008 we exclusively chose Infinet products as our core link infrastructure, this decision proved very successful and has enabled us to expand rapidly making use of the robust technology provided by the Infinet product range.

The advent of the WC 2010 required us to provide various connectivity solutions, specifically where the national telcos were unable to deploy in the tight time scales this period presented. A few of the instances are detailed below:

Lasernet provided connectivity for Adidas at the Sandton convention centre

Adidas had on the ground camera crews doing coverage of the WC 2010, daily this coverage was downloaded and edited in the studio and the finished Quicktime media file was then transferred over the Lasernet network via Smartjog to New York and was made available to the international contingent for broadcast. To achieve this, Lasernet installed a point to point Infinet link from Sandton to our central switching facility, and provided transfers speeds in excess of 100Mbps. The efficiency of the solution proved very successful and was utilised during the entire period of the World Cup 2010.

Lasernet provided connectivity for Castrol to Johannesburg and Cape Town stadiums

Castrol had a requirement to stream multiple clips to both the Johannesburg and Cape Town stadiums. The content was varied but included interviews and informational content that visitors to their hospitality tents could view. They provided multiple PC’s in order to allow multiple users to access their streaming and web content, both in Johannesburg and Cape Town. This service was also utilised during the entire WC 2010 event and was achieved by installing temporary Infinet links over multiple hops to finally terminate at the hospitality tent areas at both stadiums.

Lasernet provided walk in clients with a facility to transfer daily content

Lasernet, out of necessity, became a portal for freelance producers, editors and cameramen to walk in to our offices and have the facility to transfer and publish their content to the international market. These clients would shoot footage of daily events and then edit and transfer from our local switching centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. It was a cosmopolitan mix of culture using this service, and ranged from Dutch, German, British to Chinese and Malaysian to name a few. Generally file size content was in the region of 2 to 5GB in size. The current telco facilities could not provide the speed to the freelance community and our cost effective transfer facility utilising our Infinet regional networks proved highly successful for these clients.

Lasernet provided a quick link for FIFA streaming

Lasernet were requested, at short notice, to provide a link to FIFA in order for them to stream internationally. With a days notice due the national telco not being able to provide a solution for an ad hoc streaming broadcast, Lasernet were able to install and connect to the conference room and enabled FIFA to stream via our network to the international community. This was utilised over a period of two days and again proved to be very successful in facilitating the live stream required by FIFA. This connectivity was merely an extension of our Infinet network for a short term solution as required by FIFA.

These are but a few of the instances where Lasernet were instrumental in providing connectivity during our hosting of the WC 2010. Our connectivity options are being required by more and more clients that find themselves without connectivity from the national telcos due to instability of diginet and ADSL. The opportunities we are presented with because of this are immense, and due to our robust infrastructure on the Infinet range of products we are able to continue our dynamic growth.