Kordia responds in Christchurch’s time of need

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Ensuring business continuity—and increasing existing services—has been Kordia’s primary objective as it responds to the affected areas of Christchurch after the 22 February earthquake struck.

Supplying key broadcast and telecommunications services to the Christchurch region, Kordia has managed to ensure that all services have remained fully operational since the quake.

All main sites—bar one—have been successfully running on mains power. The sole site requiring a back-up generator has been refuelled as and when required.

“From a communications perspective, no Kordia customers have been impacted,” says Drew Gilpin, Kordia GM of Sales and Marketing.

“Because Kordia has multiple points of presence around Christchurch, we have been able to provide diverse links for current customers to keep their businesses operational. We’ve migrated any ‘at risk’ services over to other unaffected infrastructure and locations.”

“KorKor, Kordia’s digital two-way radio solution has been unaffected, with additional units distributed to Kordia response teams and other key customers.”

As many of Kordia’s customers have had to vacate their physical premises, Kordia has been working with them around the clock to ensure business continuity as they relocate to temporary sites.

Kordia is establishing a high capacity link into a into a major data centre from its tower on Sugarloaf which was unaffected by the quake. This link will provide alternative backhaul options for carrier and corporate customers, giving them the ability to replicate and deliver for other customers over fibre and/or wireless infrastructure.

On Saturday 26 February Kordia increased WiMAX coverage across the city with service speeds of up to 10 Mbps. This service is being used by Kordia’s telecommunications services customers.

“Enabling business continuity options for affected Christchurch businesses remains a priority for us,” says Gilpin. “We began working with Plan B last Friday to establish a WiMAX link to their Orchard Road facility near Christchurch Airport, providing VPN and high speed internet connectivity. By Monday, it was up and running.”

Working with a range of current and new customers to enable VPN and Internet Connectivity via wireless infrastructure, Kordia is using a combination of WiMAX and microwave technologies to provide additional connectivity to meet customer requirements as they arise

“In the medium term, we will invest in additional core network infrastructure in Christchurch to continue to support both wholesale and retail customers,” adds Gilpin.

“We understand that full restoration of telecommunications networks and re-establishing or relocating business premises in Christchurch will be a lengthy process. Kordia remains committed to providing continued support of both existing and new customers through this.”

ends

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