Aztec Resources (subsequently taken over by Mt Gibson Iron) commissioned Multipro to build a voice and IT system to connect their South Perth offices to a mine to be constructed on Koolan Island. The Island had no communications infrastructure other than a small private satellite service the company had put in place at its camp.

The company had previously commissioned a design by its principal contractor to deliver voice communications to the mine operations and village.

Multipro was approached to check the communications design and design the information technology infrastructure.

Multipro re-designed the communications solution and integrated data. We built an island-wide ICT system which gave the company the following benefits:

• $500,000 per annum cost savings over the previous design on call costs, with only $60,000 additional capital costs over 5 years
• Fully integrated voice and data over a satellite link with no loss of quality
• 7 cent un-timed local calls to Perth area from the island
• Crystal clear voice communications, even over the satellite
• Achieved 10 kilo bits per second per call data rates over the long haul links which are a world best
• No per-call cost through-out the island or to the Perth head office
• Enabled a reliable fax solution on island over the IP network (via satellite) back to Perth
• Enabled Perth based contractors to remotely access their equipment (power station, lab) via the same network
• Infrastructure exceeded cyclone ratings required by the company
• Fully redundant battery backed backup power supplies
• Virtualised servers for email, file and print, database and security
• Multipro were the only contractor on-island to complete construction on time

Multipro was nominated for, and won, a WAITTA (WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Award) for the project; WA’s peak ICT industry awards.