wiredInUSA October 2017

Opening up the network

Cable record for Australia

Withanexistingnetworkof fiber opticcabling set tobe removedduringconstructionworks on Canberra’s Stage One light rail project, an Australian manufacturing plant has created an entirely new cabling solution to significantly improve the network’s current capacity to provide secure communications between Canberra’s federal government departments. Prysmian Australia CEO Frederick Persson said government body ICON, which manages the 1,000kmgovernment network of fiber optic cables, was looking for a faster, reliable and cost-effective solution to replace the current assortment of cabling that stretches along the 12km Stage One light rail path.

Grameenphone’s exclusivity in using the Bangladesh Railway’s fiber optic network will end as the government looks to make the most of the resources available to realize its Digital Bangladesh vision. In 1989 Bangladesh Railway (BR), under a signalling modernization project, installed the optical fiber network at 300 stations with financial assistance from the Norwegian government. In 1997, as the capacity of the fiber optic remained mostly unused, Grameenphone signed an agreement with the railway division to use, maintain and run the business operation of the fiber optic cable. The government has now taken an initiative to withdraw the exclusivity agreement between Grameenphone and BR, citing the cable as a public resource that, as such, should be open to all. A joint committee of representatives from Grameenphone and BR is reviewing the terms of agreement between the two. 20-year

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wiredInUSA - October 2017