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Managed service provider Australian Sentinel has secured Australian 5G Innovation Initiative grant funding that was used towards the Transdev Sydney Ferries 5G project rollout.
During the trial phase of the project, Australian Sentinel used Cradlepoint 5G in-vehicle solutions.
The project was a part of a wider Transdev program to fit-out vessels, wharves and offices with refreshed, modern technology, deploying Cradlepoint R1900 5G ruggedised routers on board vessels and at wharves, to deliver IP video monitoring and emergency help point services, which operate throughout Sydney Harbour.
CCTV and help point data were downloaded from vessels to the operations control office while also providing primary connectivity for public announcement, passenger information display, and corporate WiFi.
Funding for the project was awarded to Australian Sentinel and Transdev as part of the Australian government’s 5G Innovation Initiative grant.
“There were two key elements of this technology that we were extremely impressed with – the 5G connection to the vessel CCTV systems, which enabled almost real-time footage review; and the speed at which we were able to get the connection live,” Transdev Sydney Ferries managing director Loretta Lynch said.
According to Transdev Sydney Ferries general manager of finance and commercial, Eric Cannell added the newest fleet, the River Class, produces up to 330GB of CCTV per day.
“That’s the equivalent of 100 Netflix movies and yet our investigation team is now able to download hours of CCTV footage in minutes, which is significantly faster than what we could get with 4G,” Cannell said.
Australian Sentinel provides managed services to Transdev, using NetCloud Manager to ensure network endpoints stay connected, protected, available, and continuously up to date with router and modem software. A number of vendors were evaluated for the project, but Australian Sentinel settled on Cradlepoint.
“This project is a great demonstration of what can be achieved using 5G wireless connectivity and culturally aligned organisations, who focus on accelerating technology adoption and maximising benefits,” Australian Sentinel managing director Tim Crouch said.
The project to date has been expanded beyond the initial trial phase with a handful of ferries to include more vessels.
Transdev represents one of Australian Sentinel's biggest clients in 2022 and has also done work in rolling out passenger displays at their wharves and refreshing their connectivity network.
"Mobile applications are really good technologies for branch sites and areas like wharves," he said.
Cradlepoint Asia Pacific senior vice president Nathan McGregor added the work Australian Sentinel is doing with Transdev is an example of the huge impact that 5G connectivity can have on an organisation’s operations.
