Moree, Australia
Field Solutions Group (ASX:FSG) has deployed its first non-National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre to the premises (FTTP) and fixed wireless (FW) solution in rural Australia.
The end-to-end cloud and telecommunications services provider has designed, engineered, and deployed its first FTTP network in Moree, New South Wales, together with a fixed wireless solution to clients in that area and up to 50 to 80 kilometres from the Moree township following a six-month trial in the area.
Moree is home to Field Solutions Group's third regional network deployment, with the company previously having a focus on rural and regional network infrastructure.
Field Solutions Group said that rollout work is already underway for another six regional locations, and that these rollouts will occur during the course of the next financial year.
The company said, in a statement on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), that the solution delivers higher speed services than the NBN.
“[Field Solutions Group is] focusing on augmenting areas where the current NBN rollout does not plan for service in regional Australia,” Field Solutions Group CEO Andrew Roberts, said. “We provide symmetric services to regional Australia, where the NBN is only delivering limited capacity Sky Muster services.”
According to Roberts, the company has developed a community driven approach to its network rollout, servicing business, agribusiness, and residential customers via the establishment of the network in “defined regional corridors”.
“There is a demand for higher grade digital services in regional and rural Australia, and we are determined to build our network to service this digital drought. We have funded this rollout using cash reserves and anticipate network revenue targets to be reached in Q3 2018,” he said.
The rural rollout follows Field Solutions Group's recent acquisition of enterprise wireless network services provider, BMS Network Solutions, on 2 June, in a bid to bulk up its regional credentials.
“The integration of BMS augments FSG’s capability to design, deploy and manage broadband solutions for customers in rural and regional Australia,” Roberts told shareholders previously.
“Our focus to deliver not only smart rural cities but also smart rural agribusinesses, will ultimately rely on a combination of wireless and fibre technologies.”
This came just a month after the company re-listed itself on the ASX, following a merger with Freshtel, in a deal that was understood to be worth millions.
In March, Freshtel told shareholders it would shed its legacy VoIP business in favour of the raft of IT, telco and cloud services provided by its acquisition target.
“Upon settlement of the acquisition, the company’s focus will shift to that of a telecommunications, technology and cloud computing company,” the company said in a prospectus sent to shareholders previously. “It is the company’s intention, following reinstatement, to discontinue its current VoIP business and to focus solely on FSG’s business and operations going forward."
At the time of writing, FSG’s shares were trading at $0.04.
