Open Access Community Networks
Our Capability
UCG’s wholly owned subsidiary Open Access Networks Pt y Ltd (OAN) is in the business of creating networks for communities that open to all service providers, allows for flexible and transparent business models to allow network owners to see a return on investment while providing tomorrow’s communications today at today’s rates or lower to all users of the network.
UCG is a capable and solutions driven telecommunications network supplier that seeks long term relationships with communities and the network owner.
UCG provides the end to end capability to:
- Design,
- Construct,
- Commission,
- Manage and,
- Deliver wholesale and retail services for Telephony, Broadband, Pay-tv, Video on Demand (VoD), and IPTV.
Our Vision
OAN’s vision is to help communities create cost effective, open and flexible networks, that allow for end user choice of service suppliers, and provide a platform for the creation of a dynamic and vibrant new way for communities to develop and engage.
Strong Partners
UCG has sought out strong partners that provide OAN with the strength to address the key elements of providing successful telecommunication services;
- Billing,
- Customer Support,
- Customer Technical Support,
- Network Operation Centre,
- Carrier Licence (and obligations),
- Backhaul,
- Voice and data interconnect,
- Network Management and,
- Field Response.
Our partners are strong successful players in their own markets, and so this allows OAN to provide market leading customer service and network performance without needing the resources of a large national telco to deliver.
In large communities and in green field developments the telecommunications industry consensus is that building fibre to the home (FTTH), or building (FTTB) is an economic reality, and most suggesting that this is now a necessity for those communities to engage fully in the developing knowledge economy.
OAN is ideally placed with its partners to assist communities to develop FTTH and FTTB networks that will allow them to not only access existing services at lower rates than conventional copper networks, but to have ultra fast (up to 100Mb/s) connections to each home, along with Free to Air (FTA) TV, PayTV, Video on Demand (VOD), and IPTV. TV services are delivered with only one antenna system serving the whole community.
Stepping Stones
While OAN strongly promotes the use of fibre technologies, we also understand that for some communities the cost of fibre infrastructure may be prohibitive in the short term. OAN is able to provide high speed data and telephony solutions over a number of infrastructure types;
- Co-axial network (TV cable)
- Category 5/6 cable
- Category 3 cabling (telephony cable)
Where a building or village may require an upgrade to cabling infrastructure to meet the requirements of FTA Digital TV (DTV), but cannot justify the cost of fibre, OAN can redesign your co-axial (TV) infrastructure to permit high speed broadband to be delivered to each home or unit. Similarly in a building OAN can utilise existing telephony cabling (if delivered via an MDF) to deliver high speed broadband (up to 50Mb/s).
OAN can provide economic stepping stones for all communities that need to address infrastructure builds in the short term for DTV, that will allow for the introduction of advanced services in the future.
Examples
Brentwood Village
Brentwood Village presented OAN with the challenge of providing a FTTB TV solution at a similar price to a competing co-axial proposal. OAN in consultation with the client was able to provide a solution for FTTB to deliver all local FTA analogue and Digital Channels to all units, but also SelecTV (PayTV). The solution involved the creation of a complete pit and pipe network (developed with Brentwood Village), deployment of fibre to all buildings in the complex (122 buildings and over 600 ILU’s), development of a RF and fibre head end to deliver these services. The budget for the project met the clients expectations, and resident feedback on the new services has been very positive.The FTTB infrastructure will allow Brentwood Village to extend services to the residents that includes: onsite telephony (free calls), onsite intranet for broadband, IPTV and VoD, telephone and broadband (internet) services through a choice of service providers, and the capability to add security and wireless services throughout the village.
Sanctuary Cove
Sanctuary Cove is a brown and green field development on the Gold Coast with over 1000 homes already built, and over 700 homes yet to be developed. OAN rose to the challenges set by Sanctuary Cove in respect of high availability of network requirement due to the demands of the residents in respect of security, and a generally high expectation of superior services for telephony and broadband. One of the key elements for Sanctuary Cove was to ensure an open network was delivered so the residents would have choice of service provider. OAN has designed a network and an operating model that meets all of these demanding requirements.While the OAN solution for Sanctuary Cove is very comprehensive, Sanctuary Cove see the resulting infrastructure as a stepping stone for the development of even more advanced network services and functionality for the residents of Sanctuary Cove.