Vocus continues to service mining operations and communities in some of the most remote regions in Australia with long-haul fibre networks and satellite technology.
In a time of expanding virtual communication, machine automation and data storage, Vocus is at the forefront of providing customers with stable, fast, low-latency communications.
From exploration teams to mine workers and community-based organisations, Vocus is providing the vital communications infrastructure that helps to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of people in some of the harshest environments and most remote of areas in Australia.
“Vocus operates Australia’s second-largest long-haul fibre network, we’re supporting government, defence and enterprise across several large-scale national projects, and we have points of presence in over 150 major data centres,” Vocus account director – natural resources Benedict Boylson told Australian Mining.
The company has long been developing multiple technology solutions to service remote mining operations, developing a capable, secure and cost-effective fibre network infrastructure. It has also invested significantly in low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications for expanded internet communications and cloud-based data storage.
The investment roadmap that Vocus is undertaking across the Pilbara region of Western Australia is substantial, with a 1000km high-capacity fibre optic spur from the Australian Singapore Cable (ASC) to a pre-existing cable located at Port Hedland that is scheduled for completion in March 2023 and will form the Darwin–Jakarta–Singapore Cable (DJSC).
The DJSC will provide a unique, geographically diverse and protected wet route from the Pilbara to Perth, and a direct low-latency route to Singapore and many key cloud computing hyperscalers.
Additionally, the 1600km Project Horizon is under construction and scheduled to be completed by December 2023. The project will complete a ‘western loop’ of assets by connecting Geraldton to Port Hedland, via Meekatharra and Newman, linking natural resources hub in the Pilbara.
Vocus is currently in the process of developing options to support individual mining operations along the route of the trunk cable system.
The benefits of the DJSC include its capacity to support edge computing, LEO systems and private LTE/5G networks, while ensuring secure, reliable and high-performance internet connectivity for people working and living in remote rural and regional areas of Australia.
Stable, high-speed network capacity will support bandwidth-hungry applications and provide critical connectivity for mineral exploration activities and emergency mine teams.
“At the moment there is an exploration boom occurring for rare earth minerals, and with so many mapping, surveying and drilling programs taking place, exploration teams require agile, stable and low-latency communications,” Boylson said.
“Gone are the days of hard drives, so in order to store large amounts of modelling information, the ability to access cloud-based internet data storage providers in remote locations is a necessity.”
Vocus’ advances in fibre and satellite networks will immeasurably benefit people living and working at remote mine sites, and further strengthen the critical services on which rural and regional communities across Australia depend.
An example of Vocus providing communications benefits to a local community is in the delivery of an upgraded private network to Minjar Gold in rural Western Australia.
The Vocus engineering team offered significant improvements to the mine site’s previous connectivity speed, boosting it from 40Mbs to nearly 500Mbps.
The solution for Minjar Gold included working with Vocus’ fixed IP wireless partner Goldnet to implement a microwave technology solution that connects the mine through line-of-sight fixed IP wireless to Vocus’ fibre point of presence located north of the Southern Cross township.
The project not only delivered improved connectivity to the Minjar Gold mine site, but also to the wider Southern Cross community, which was offered access to the private network to help ensure more reliable connectivity and faster internet speeds.
“Vocus prides itself on a superior track record of on-time and on-budget project delivery, achieved with an engineering pedigree few large carriers possess, along with highly advanced communications knowledge and partnerships, especially in the space industry around low and mid earth orbiting satellite communications,” Boylson said.
This feature appeared in the October issue of Australian Mining.