Scientific-Atlanta Inc. will supply its Skylinx.DDS Digital DAMA telephony system to help create a network to support cellular satellite communications in the interior of Argentina-South America’s second largest country.
While one of the fastest-growing telecommunications markets in Latin America, Argentina has the same problem as other countries in the region: Telecommunications penetration is concentrated in the large urban areas with smaller towns and rural areas having little service.
“There is no cellular service available to the more than 20 million Argentines who live outside the Buenos Aires metropolitan area,” noted John Mann, vice president of worldwide sales for Scientific-Atlanta’s Satellite Networks Division.
The problem is compounded by those 20 million people being spread out over one million square miles. Consequently, while the capital city reportedly has a teledensity of nearly 20 telephone lines per 100 people, the interior has less than half that.
To remedy this situation, the Argentine government took a bold step in 1993. Eschewing the opportunity to shake down some deep-pocketed telecommunications players, Argentina instead gave the license to the applicant it believed could roll out service the fastest.
The nod went to Compania de Telefonos del Interios, a joint venture between GTE Corp. and AT&T Corp.
“Our Skylinx.DDS DAMA network will enable CTI to quickly establish its cellular network to provide reliable telephone service to other population centers, as well as isolated or remote areas across the country,” Scientific-Atlanta’s Mann said.
The company said its very small aperture terminal-based equipment will be installed in more than 300 remote sites to provide voice and data connectivity to a Scientific-Atlanta 6-meter network central hub antenna located in Cordoba, 300 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.
In addition to voice capability, the equipment also transmits mission-critical data, which is essential for the interoperation of the cellular switching equipment, the company said.
“We selected Scientific-Atlanta for its ability to deploy a technically superior, large network in a relatively short time frame,” said Michael Joseph, chief operating officer for CTI. Scientific-Atlanta was willing to help CTI control costs by modifying its network management system software to better service CTI needs, Joseph added.
