The use of fixed wireless links to provide voice and data communications over New Zealand’s mountainous geography has given birth to a thriving export industry.

Wireless operators, such as Vodafone, IP Wireless and Airspan, have long used New Zealand as a test bed for wireless solutions, taking advantage of the expertise of local companies and a consumer market hungry for new mobile gadgets and services.

New Zealand-based 4RF Communications has applied knowledge learnt in the local market to a wireless technology business that now has customers in 65 countries. That diverse customer base is made up mainly of telecommunications and energy operators, and military and emergency services. They are united by their need to have communications access in areas where existing networks are overloaded or non-existent.

Telecommunications providers, particularly in developing areas where the reach of fixed-line networks is limited, are using 4RF’s technology to plug gaps in coverage. Rising demand for 4RF’s technology across all markets, from France and Spain to Syria,sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America, led to revenue growth of 168 percent last year. That placed 4RF among the top 50 fastest growing companies in New Zealand.

The need for wireless communications lies increasingly in three particular areas: data transport for utility companies, rural broadband and telephony provision, and in expanding coverage for mobile network operators. At the heart of 4RF’s success are two generations of point-to-point networking equipment, which is licensed in the sub-3GHz (gigahertz) frequency bands. The Aprisa solutions, moving voice and data across wireless links around the world, are designed and manufactured exclusively in New Zealand.

4RF is setting up bases in high-growth markets such as Dubai. “Dubai provides a highly accessible international business centre in the Middle East,” says 4RF’s Ian Attwood. “It enables 4RF to establish an in-region sales and marketing presence – a culturally vital component for doing business.”

The Middle East has become a lucrative market for 4RF. It recently secured a US$1.2 million deal with Iranian systems integrator Saberin, and has sold into Dubai Petroleum and companies in Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

4RF is also making great strides in South America, through Vivo, the southern hemisphere’s largest mobile operator, and in the Philippines. Sri Lanka Telecom and PNG Telecom in Papua New Guinea have also recently deployed 4RF solutions to expand their networks.

 

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