The telecommunications network providers have traditionally built their  networks on the demands of the residential community, building their
infrastructure to capture the greatest number of subscribers.
Local Government Regeneration schemes and Private Developers are building Business Parks on reclaimed ‘Brownfield’ land and on the fringes of towns and cities. This has the advantages of providing a pleasant, semi-rural environment in which businesses can grow and ensures that vehicle traffic flow through residential and inner city areas is reduced. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the telecommunications infrastructure does not exist to support these business parks / out of town businesses.

The traditional telecommunications companies are slowly building their networks out to support these business communities, as well as providing faster links into rural communities, but there is a lot of ground to cover. Building a traditional, copper and fibre based network is expensive, with high manpower, plant and material costs, so networks are built on the basis of greatest economic gain, so in some cases this higher speed connectivity may never arrive.

All of this means that if you want to connect a location ahead of the telecommunications companies’ plans, you will have to contribute to the costs of the connection. This can be a very expensive option for the small to medium businesses typically located in these areas and with finance departments looking to do more with less, it is often the businesses' communications that are hit hardest.

Last year, the British Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched a Connection Voucher Scheme to 50 cities and outlying communities across the UK with a fund of £40 million to try to address this issue. It was incredibly successful – with the funding used up well before the 31st March 2016 deadline. This was fine for businesses in superfast broadband enabled areas, but the £3,000 per business grants often fell short of covering the installation costs in rural or town and city fringe areas.  This left a lot of projects stalled and scrabbling for additional funding.  The pot is now empty, so most of these projects have now been cancelled, with no hope of resurrection.

A collaborative approach can eliminate this problem, allowing multiple users to share the same expensive Internet Connection. This ensures that high speed, low or zero contention, symmetrical Internet (unlike conventional broadband) access can be available to all stakeholders.

• Costs of the leased line are shared across the businesses,  to fund the installation costs if a sufficient number of businesses are in the catchment area.
• This model can be expanded to cover additional areas as other businesses (even distant) show interest.
• The financial models are very flexible. Installations can be ‘owned’ by local government bodies, business park owners or even community organisations and co-operatives.
• Revenues generated from the network can be re-invested into the network, as well as funding additional services such as community CCTV Schemes, electronic access control, public/guest Wi-Fi access or outdoor help points.

These initiatives help promote the Business Area as a friendly, safe, well connected, efficient and green place to work and grow a business,
adding to the value of the area and positively affecting the welfare of the inhabitants.

Rapier Systems design high speed, rapidly deployed, radio systems based on Telecommunications Grade wireless hardware. We can work with you to take control of the communications costs and share the expensive Internet Connection across multiple businesses.

One structure in the area (usually the tallest) is nominated the ‘Point Of
Presence’ or ‘POP Site’. This needs a good field of view of the  subscriber buildings. We then arrange for an Internet Connection to
be installed at this location. 

A Point to Multipoint (PtMP) transmitter is installed onto the POP, typically providing a service over a 90 degree sector, with distances up to 2 kilometres. Subscribers in this sector can receive a symmetrical data service of 30Mbps or more. Multiple transmitters can be deployed for different areas or if subscriber density exceeds the capacity of the transmitter.

If higher speeds are required, they can be provided by Point to Point
(PtP) links with speeds of up to 2Gigabits (Gbps). These are usually
deployed for private business to business connections.

Wireless links can be built quickly and with minimal fuss and disruption
to normal business operations. The subscriber units are small and
discrete, and usually require no planning permission to install. Once 
the POP site is operational, new subscribers can be added within
days.

Once established, the network is expandable and flexible.
Connections can be upgraded, downgraded and relocated with ease
and speed. As new customers come online, the network can expand
in size and reach, growing organically with local demand.

Other applications such as CCTV can be added, providing safety and
security to residents, without high communications costs and “socially
aware” Guest Wi-Fi can be provided, providing local businesses with
valuable marketing and presence information.

• Lower Cost than Traditional Telecoms
• Tailored Service
• Rapid Installation Time
• Fast Issue Resolution
• Greater Flexibility
• The Ability to Own (not lease) Your Network
• Simple to Upgrade (as little as 24 hours)
• Available Now – Not when someone else feels like it!

For more information, take a look at our website, call us on 0845 299 6171, or drop us an email at [email protected]