African telecommunications and network company Paratus, and Ceragon Networks, a provider of innovative wireless backhaul and fronthaul solutions, have signed a multi-year agreement to provide high-capacity wireless offshore communication solutions to the oil and gas industry in Namibia, Angola and Mozambique.
The agreement combines Ceragon’s stabilising technology for offshore assets, including rigs and/or floating production storage and offloading platforms, with the Paratus onshore network infrastructure for the fast and secure transmission of vital data.
The Ceragon technology connects offshore floating, rotating and/or navigating infrastructure via a uniquely stabilised live microwave link over distances of up to 100 kilometres offshore to the Paratus pan-African network.
As the partners points out, offshore communications infrastructure needs to be reliable and resilient, and able to withstand corrosion and difficult conditions – but also to meet demanding safety regulations, when, for example, operating the equipment in highly explosive environments.
In this context ATEX is very relevant. ATEX is the name commonly given to the two European Directives for controlling explosive atmospheres. ATEX Certification is a product regulation which ensures the safety of equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. Ceragon has an in-house certified solution that complies with ATEX Zone 1 and 2 specifications, and fully meets these stringent safety requirements.
This is not the first partnership for these companies. As Paratus Group CTO Rolf Mendelsohn says, “Having worked with Ceragon for many years in Angola, this was a natural and logical evolution of our working relationship.”
