Teligence realises the importance and growth potential of the region and establishing a presence locally is critical to service customers based in the Asia Pacific area...
Teligence is delighted to announce sponsorship of Shane Lowry....
As part of its Managed Services offering, Teligence is developing solutions for the deployment of Audio-Visual systems into the public and private sectors....
©2010 Teligence Ltd.
All rights reserved.
All trademarks acknowledged.
England and Wales are today being serviced by what is the world’s first Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) optical fibre network to provide broadband communications as well as the telecommunications infrastructure to monitor and manage an electrical power grid. The network is the effort of the National Grid Company PLC (NGC) and C&W PLC, with a major role played by Teligence. Teligence provides provisioning for the entire SDH network, including the broadband services.
Teligence has been working with C&W and NGC over the past four years and currently has a team of 50 technical provisioning engineers dedicated to C&W. Teligence also provides office facilities to both Teligence and C&W staff assigned to support the teleprotection grid. The network management systems and C&W/Teligence combined staff are based in Teligence’s facility in Birmingham, England.
“Our relationship with C&W goes far beyond that of a vendor or supplier,” says Russell Wyatt, Senior Manager of Operations, Teligence. “Teligence’s provisioning services are an integral part of the teleprotection network. We helped create the network, and our provisioning engineers work side-by-side with the C&W team to keep the network operational. We’re a seamless part of their efforts. This says a lot about the trust C&W puts in Teligence and our dedication to providing genuine service for our customers.”
The United Kingdom’s Electricity Act of 1989 mandated NGC to develop and maintain an efficient, co-ordinated and economical national electricity-transmission system and to create competition in the supply and generation of electricity. NGC has responsibility for more than 7,000 route kilometres (4,200 miles) of high-voltage power lines, operating mainly at 400,000 volts and 275,000 volts.
The C&W all-SDH broadband network was installed primarily along NGC’s electricity transmission infrastructure and now includes more than 6,500 km (3,900 miles) of fibre network. With its ring architecture the SDH network boasts exceptional resilience and reliability with the speed and capacity to support a wide range of broadband transmission services. C&W integrates advanced data services (such as e-commerce solutions and streaming e-mail) with complex managed hosting and applications services through its Internet Data Centres on the national IP network.
Much of the SDH network is either within or wrapped around the earthwire (above-ground power transmission lines) which link the tips of the transmission towers together. One of the advantages this provides C&W is much greater protection for its fibre network. As compared to buried cable, using the earthwire greatly reduces disruption from fire, accidental damage and vandalism. Because the SDH uses NGC’s infrastructure, it is the perfect solution for teleprotection.
The majority of data circuits that are provisioned on the National Grid Network are either telecontrol or teleprotection circuits located at power stations and sub-stations. These data circuits are highly critical as these services are either controlling or protecting National Grid applications. They monitor power travelling from pylon to pylon nationwide on transmission lines that carry up to 400,000 volts.
The data circuits will instantly switch the power off under disaster conditions, such as a damaging lightning storm. Because these data circuits are critical, nearly all of the circuits are routed on the SDH network. Backing-up the circuits and separating them is critical to the teleprotection application. Multiple circuits monitor the same piece of equipment with each circuit separate from the other. If circuits are lost due to faults on the network, another circuit must be able to monitor the equipment. National Grid has laid down strict rules and regulations dictating how circuits are provisioned and configured, and the Teligence provisioning team has to adhere to these at all times.
“In addition to our provisioning work, we also provide a number of other services to C&W,” says Paul Roscoe, Provisioning Manager, Teligence. “Our field engineering teams test and integrate their voice and data services from C&W customer locations back into the network, and also handle network installation and commissioning for core and access network builds. We’re also providing switch interconnect testing, and stores and logistics services.
“We have a wonderful association with C&W and it demonstrates the real value of a collaborative relationship,” Roscoe says. “The result is a highly reliable telecommunications network that gives C&W the infrastructure it needed to become a major broadband provider in the U.K.”
This project epitomises Teligence’s: