OTE Deploys Aperto PacketMAX Solution At Mount Athos In Northern Greece
Milpitas, CA - Aperto Networks, builder of the world's most versatile carrier-grade and cost-effective WiMAX Forum certified base stations and subscriber units, announced recently that its industry-leading line of PacketMAX base stations and subscriber units have been deployed on a pilot basis by OTE, Greece's leading telecom operator headquartered in Athens, in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece. The network provides on a pilot basis wireless broadband voice and data for several monasteries and religious sites on Mount Athos, the oldest surviving monastic community of the world.
"This deployment is one of the most unique that we have been involved with," said Manish Gupta, Vice President of Marketing & Alliances for Aperto Networks and WiMAX Forum Board Member. "It is the first true end-to-end WiMAX network in Greece and one that stretches as far as 65 Km over land with multiple hops. It also includes long distance radio links that extend 33 Km over sea and even integrates last mile access to Karies, the capital of the Athos community, via a mini DSLAM and an 802.11 WiFi network. The deployment is really innovative and demonstrates how flexible our award-winning PacketMAX technology is when managed through WaveCenter Pro, our proprietary element management system. "
OTE's pilot network is built around PacketMAX 5000, the industry's highest density, highest capacity, and highest performing base station. PacketMAX 300 and PacketMAX 100 series subscriber units are used for backhaul and last mile access. The entire system is remotely managed through OTE's DCN network. Heletel SA, a network integrator and Aperto partner, provided turnkey installation and continues to support the deployment with ongoing training and technical help.
Mount Athos, or Holy Mountain or Agion Oros as it is locally known, is the oldest surviving monastic community in the world. It dates back more than 1,000 years to Byzantine times. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that, although part of Greece, it is governed by its own local administration and is spiritually subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Today, there are 20 Greek, Russian, Serbian and Bulgarian monasteries in the community, a renowned treasury of cultural and spiritual antiquities from the Balkans and Europe.
"WiMAX is gaining traction with providers looking to economically provide wireless broadband services in unique and difficult geographies," said Roberta Wiggins, Research Fellow in Yankee Group's Enabling Technology Service Provider Group. "We have seen deployments in deserts, across large bodies of water, as well as urban jungles in emerging nations. Products like PacketMAX, with its feature set and QoS, assist service providers in cost effectively deploying reliable WiMAX networks now."
The PacketMAX family of products delivers the critical elements required to extend wireless broadband services to a wide range of users—ranging from governments, large enterprises and public-sector organizations to multi-tenant buildings and residences—using a single, standards-based platform. PacketMAX also supports the widest range of licensed and license-exempt frequencies in the world, including the 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 3.65 GHz, 5.1 GHz, 5.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands.
SOURCE: Aperto Networks