Background

Altech Fleetcall, a division of Altech Radio Holdings (ARH) and part of the Altron TMT Group, the largest privately owned converged solution provider in Africa, recently awarded Hytera to upgrade its radio trunking network from analog to a digital mobile radio (DMR) network.
Altech Fleetcall is the only company in South Africa with a national radio trunking communication network. The network was established, expanded and maintained with in-house expertise over the last 20 years. It is arguably the largest operational MPT1327 network in the world. Altech Fleetcall counts a number of blue-chip companies among the customers it has supplied with world class communication solutions over the past two decades.

Customer Demands

According to Brett Nash, Managing Director of Altech Radio Holdings, Fleetcall's vision is to be the connectivity provider of choice for its customers. “For this reason, the time had come for us to invest in an upgrade of our network. We explored a number of options to upgrade the predominantly analog network to a digital one to provide our existing and potential customers with the tremendous benefits of digital radio technology.”
These benefits include higher data speed, GPS tracking, accelerometer applications, flexible dispatching, multi-level monitoring, larger subscriber capacity and crystal clear voice quality.

Hytera Solution

Following a three-year planning and market investigation process, Altech Fleetcall chose the Hytera Digital Mobile Radio system, a highly advanced ETSI standard trunking solution, to replace its existing analog trunking system. Hytera's expertise ensured that the system and terminals could be customized according to Altech Fleetcall's specific frequency and feature requirements.
Altech Fleetcall's network migration to DMR was regarded as strengthening the companies' mutually beneficial relationship. On one hand, it is a way to create greater awareness of Altech Fleetcall's current operation; on the other, the new network will attract new subscribers and in some cases even encourage companies to build their own DMR-based solutions. Either way, network-type business will become increasingly important in future.

Voice from Customer

“We chose Hytera to be our partner in this upgrade project based on the company's R&D reputation, quality of their products and the mutually beneficial relationship our two companies have enjoyed since 2007,”
“I agree on the growth potential of the upgrade. Should the subscriber uptake warrant it, the network could potentially grow to 250 sites nationally. These sites would be deployed over a number of phases and be aligned with where the company perceives the greatest benefit.”
                                                         —— Brett Nash, Managing Director of Altech Radio Holdings