Phoenix Wireless Group has installed a wireless local loop network in Paraguay to provide rural dwellers in the town of Pirapou with basic telephone service.
Communications access is limited in Paraguay, a country whose land mass is comparable in size to the state of California, and which is home to about 5.4 million people. One in 30 people has telephone access. In rural regions, communication is even more scarce.
The Phoenician Wireless Local Loop system, which uses Advanced Mobile Phone Service analog technology, operates from a single five-channel cell and has the capacity to serve about 100 users within a 30-kilometer radius, said the Maitland, Fla., company.
Paul Mueller, Phoenix’ chief operating officer, said network deployment, which began about a month ago, has run smoothly. The system already is yielding great calling range, he added.
In addition to wireless, Phoenix is building a hybrid wireline service at the request of the Post, Telephone and Telegraph in Paraguay, Antelco, said Mueller. That part of the system is expected to be completed by September. Additional fixed wireless/wireline networks will be installed within the next few years near Pirapou, which is located in the country’s agricultural region.
Mueller estimated the costs of Antelco’s new network, including infrastructure, installation, network deployment and handsets, will total just less than a $1,000 amortized amount per subscriber. He did not know what Antelco is charging users.
The current WLL system consists of a hardened AMPS cell site enclosure connected to a system controller via an E1 microwave link. Interconnection with the public switched telephone network is achieved using a separate E1 link to a central office.
Antelco will operate the fixed wireless system and fulfill billing, while its Paraguayan partner, Intersynet, will provide local logistical support, said Phoenix Wireless. Phoenix will monitor the network remotely.
While the PTT operates the fixed wireless system, Mueller said Paraguay eventually plans to issue a national tender for cellular service.
