www.fijitimes.com.fj FIJI TIMES — FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 35

Frederica Elbourne E: felbourne@fijitimes.com.fj P: 330 4111 F: 330 1521

KIDANET launch in Nadi & LautokaFINTEL West Link Project

Fastest, new kid in town connectsto super global highway

Stories by Samantha Rina

JUST three years after set-ting up shop in Fiji,KIDANET has soared to

such heights that consumergravitate to.

The increasing and wide-spread interest it continues togenerate speaks volumes of itsservice in the face of growingdemand.

The enormity is such thatthe Internet service providerexpanded its services to thewestern division.

While it may appear to offeran option for Internet users,KIDANET - a subsidiary ofFINTEL, is not just anotherservice provider.

“It is the most reliable,” FIN-TEL chairman Bob Lyon said.

Driven by the ever changing,ever advancing world of tech-nology, the products and serv-ices in the telecommunicationsindustry is undergoing rapidchanges, he said.

“Gone are the days where themarket was driven by internalpreferences of the serviceprovider. Today, serviceproviders are driven by whatthe people want.

“Customers do not reallycare how the company deliversthe products. All they careabout is that they get whatthey want, where and whenthey want them and that theywork,” Mr Lyon said at thelaunch of the company’sexpansion in Nadi last Friday.

The global trend has reachedour shores as has been wit-nessed in the last ten yearsthrough the considerabledevelopment in Fiji’s telecom-munications industry, he said.

The trend has culminated inthe deregulation of the indus-try which was signed inJanuary 2008 - a move thatchanged the telecom landscape

in Fiji. “We all welcome thischange. We in Fiji want to bepart of this global trend. About12 years ago, the board of FIN-TEL made a momentous deci-sion to invest in the SouthernCross Submarine Cable whichnow gives us the bandwidth weneed to keep abreast with therest of the world,” he said.

Without such investment,the people of Fiji would bedeprived of the much neededbandwidth needed to enjoy theinnovative products and servic-es that were now available, MrLyon said.

FINTEL fully understoodthat people, organisations andnetworks were connecting at aphenomenal rate, he said. Itwas just a matter of timebefore this would skyrocket.

“The key element drivingthis change process is theexplosive force of theInternet,” he said.

Launched in April 2007,KIDANET is now the secondlargest Internet serviceprovider in Fiji, Mr Lyon said.

In a bid to expand, KIDANEThas realised the need to be atthe cutting edge of servicesthey offer.

“We need to respond to whatthe customers want. Today, Iam glad to announce that weare taking another step for-ward to respond to customersdemand and expectations. Weare making available to thepeople of the west the betterchoice – the KIDANET experi-ence,” he said.

KIDANET will ensure theirproducts, service delivery andcustomer care satisfactorilymeet the consumers’ expecta-tions.

“I am told that with thebandwidth that we offer, ourconnection is one of the fastestif not the fastest in Fiji.

“We will endeavour to makeinstallations as soon as we can.

We will pitch our customercare at the global benchmark.Equally important, our priceswill be very competitive,” MrLyons said.

KIDANET is steaming aheadand expansion to the west wasnaturally the next step, hesaid.

Despite the delay in launch-ing their services in the west,the success of the venture wasevident in the shorter timeframe taken to meet thedemands of the west. That iscompared to their competi-tors, he said.

“We may have been delayed inour project but we believe thatwe have done it in a shortertime than those that were herebefore us,” he said.

KIDANET is positioned as apremium Internet serviceprovider catering well to varieddemands of the corporate sec-tor.

“We have many excitingpackages to cater for anyrequirement, from our regularresidential user to dedicatedlarge scale corporate users.The reliability of the servicehas prompted many large com-panies to change to KIDANET.Some of our biggest customersinclude Vodafone, the govern-ment of Fiji – through ITC, -Post Fiji, and the SheratonHotel, to name a few. Manymore are already signing up inthe west,” Mr Lyon said.

With the major investmentfrom FINTEL, a state of theart wireless backhaul wasestablished to provide cus-tomers in the west a direct con-nection to the Southern Crosscable and to the rest of theworld, he said.

“Today the western part ofFiji is officially connected tothe global superhighway. Weare not stopping here. We planto reach many places as possi-ble and in record time. We also

endeavour to add other innova-tive services using the internetprotocol,” Mr Lyon said.

The expansion of services tothe western division took yearsof hard work and more timethan they had thought.

“But it’s a very thoroughroll-out and we’ve got ourentire infrastructure whichmeans it’s a hundred per centreliable so we’re very happywith the end result.

“We’ve been operating inSuva for a couple of years butobviously, Suva is only a part ofFiji and the west is such animportant part particularlywith tourism and the need forfast Internet services.

“The competition and thechoice are very important forbusinesses in the west,” hesaid.

The decision to expand serv-ices to the west was in someway a result of the competitionwith TFL who owned Connect,Mr Lyon said.

“They’re our main competi-tor, they’ve been around a lotlonger than us but we believethat we’re offering a choicethat people will seriously con-sider.

“One of the strengths of FIN-TEL is our technology.

“I believe it’s a very strongtechnical company and we’revery confident in our productand that’s where we think wehave an edge on our competi-tors.

“FINTEL also is the custodi-an of the Southern Cross cableswhich is the absolute bestmeans of communication inFiji,” he said.

KIDANET’s connection withFINTEL means they can pro-vide seriously reliable servicesand with virtually unlimitedbandwidth, they have thecapacity to grow as much asthe market could take.

FINTEL chairman Bob Lyon.

Photos by Anokh Kumar

www.fijitimes.com.fj36 FIJI TIMES —FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010

Fintel is committed to driving Fiji’s

Broadband economy.

Kidanet is a channel partner for the Internet

Broadband push throughout the islands

B E Y O N D T H E C A L L

www.fijitimes.com.fj FIJI TIMES — FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 37

KIDANET launch in Nadi & Lautoka FINTEL West Link Project

Delayed but up to date

FIFTEEN months of rough rid-ing, a slight delay – and Voila!KIDANET finally commis-

sioned its services to the west.No one said anything about

smooth sailing, but the pay off ofhard work was evident at thelaunch of its services to the west –an event that lit up the DenarauGold and Racquet Club in Nadilast week.

The message from KIDANETchief executive Jone Wesele wasclear – despite the delay, the pacetaken to achieve the mission theyset out was way ahead of time itwould take their main competi-tors to do the same.

Not one to pull his punches, hesaid : - “We were supposed to behere 15 months ago.Unfortunately, the inland estab-lishments of routers is a very dif-ficult process – we establishedbase stations right throughMonasavu and up to Lautoka andback to Nadi so that was a realchallenge for us.

“There were some technicalissues which we found very hard torefine but finally we came aroundto it and now we’re here and we’rehere to stay.”

“We still believe it took us lesstime to arrive in the west com-pared to our competitors.

“Even though we had a bit ofdelay in our project, we stillarrived here faster than our com-petitors.”

The decision to establish theirservices in the west was based ondemand, Mr Wesele said.

“We have a lot of complainingcustomers from here who wantedthe service so we decided we

should come. But because of thedelay, other competitors beat us.We still believe that being the lastinternet service provider in Suva,we still managed to capture someof the biggest customers.

“So we have a service that cus-tomers really enjoy,” he said.

Mr Wesele said customer com-plaints prompted their expansionto the west.

The nature of complaints, hesaid were mainly about the serviceprovided by competitors.

“They kept asking about whenwere coming over as the customerdemands kept increasing.

Eventually, we had to address itso we decided to expand our serv-ices,” he said.

On the route of base stationsfrom Suva to the western division,Mr Wesele said they had encoun-tered technical problems whichhave since been rectified.

“This route is a self-healingroute – there are two routes with-in that same area – if we have anIP problem with one, it self-heals,” he said.

In a span on a month, KIDANETreceived 76 customers - all corpo-rate clients.

“We are getting more interestfrom customers and we’ve alsoreceived interest from Ba so hope-fully within next month we’llexpand services to Ba,” he said.

The number of customers theycan provide Internet services to isunlimited, Mr Wesele said.

“As soon as we get more cus-tomers in, we put up more equip-ment to suit the demand.

“When more customers come in,we do get a little bit of congestionso we buy other equipment to

cater for that. We have to keepmaintaining the system toaccommodate the numbers,” hesaid.

Mr Wesele said one of the maindifficulties experienced in tryingto establish service to the westwas the setting up of base stationswhich involved land issues.

“Luckily for us we were not theones going through it.

“It was FINTEL who had tonegotiate these issues since theyown the base stations.

“They had to talk to landownersand get consent which took time -thus the delay.

“But we have been workingtogether most of the time,” hesaid.

Through KIDANET, he said Fijiwas able to receive the latestBroadband Wireless accessthrough a technology calledWIMAX.

Current services provided byKIDANET include KidaTalk,hosting customer emails on theirnetwork, WIFI hotspot andenabling company offices or indi-viduals in different locations tosecurely access a central network.

Future services which they hopeto provide are video streaming,web hosting for major corporateclients, global roaming, video ondemand, online storage/data ware-house and IP solution product pro-viding a high-speed data network-ing solution that offers a costeffective means of interconnect-ing offices throughout Fiji.

To date, KIDANET has a total of1600 customers. Seventy five percent or 1200 are residential and 20per cent or 350 are corporate cus-tomers.

‘ We still believe it took us less time to arrivein the west compared to our competitors.

‘

KIDANET chief executive officer Jone Wesele

Top: FINTEL chair-man Bob Lyon,KIDANET chiefexecutive officerJone Wesele andNadi Town adminis-trator AiseaTuidraki celebratethe expansion andconnection to partsof the WesternDivision.Left: Sonaisalimanaging directorAaron Mcgrath andfriends.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) ABN 11 005 357 522.

Proud to Support the Launch of Kidanet in the West

Reinforcing our optimism and commitment to business in Fiji.

ANZ is proud to once again reinforce our dedication to the business community in Fiji.

We hope our presence and support will give you an opportunity to experience our energy and commitment.

www.fijitimes.com.fj38 FIJI TIMES —FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010

KIDANET launch in Nadi & Lautoka FINTEL West Link Project

No short cuts tolongevity & successMONTHS of constructing

a radio system andnumerous trials later,

hard work and determinationbore fruit when KIDANET suc-cessfully expanded its Internetservices to the WesternDivision.

The team responsible for thewest expansion project testedtheir radio systems as parentcompany FINTEL worked itsway around base establishe-ment issues.

Project manager SairusiNaivaluwaqa said a year longwait ensued before they wereable to embark on step two ofthe project.

“We waited for about a yearfor FINTEL to commissiontheir backhaul link from Suvasince we were using FINTEL asour backhaul to the west. Theteam was based in the Suvaoffice and while we waited, weinstalled our own base stations– one for Nadi and one forLautoka,” he said.

Mr Naivaluwaqa said the set-ting up of base stationsinvolved building and settingup the radio systems, amid con-tinuous tests to ensure theequipment worked.

And because practice makes

perfect, more tests were carriedout to ensure there was cover-age where needed and Internetservices were not disrupted.

“Once FINTEL was ready, wedid a test with them.

“We did our part first in cre-ating base stations then wewaited for FINTEL to establishthe link to Suva. Trials wereconducted in February thisyear where we signed up somecustomers for the trial period,”he said.

As is the case when customerbase increases, hiccupsoccured.

“With the growth in cus-tomers, demand increased. Wehad to increase our bandwidthfrom Suva to the west.

“Usually we give the west 20megabytes to start off with.The project was finally com-pleted early this month afterwe managed to achieve fastInternet and no customer com-plaints,” he said.

Mr Naivaluwaqa said a fewchanges had to be made in thefinal month of preparations buteverything worked out.

“Customers who now sign upwith KIDANET in the west willbe considered paying cus-tomers since the trial period isover,” he said.

‘And becausepractice makesperfect, moretests were carried out toensure therewas coveragewhere neededand Internetservices werenot disrupted.

‘

Moving mountainsto get to you

TALK about moving mountains,KIDANET climbed most ofthem in their stride to reach

parts of the Western Division.Undettered by the rugged ter-

rain, the challenge paid off for theKIDANET team, after the launchof services to Nadi and Lautokalast week.

KIDANET west team leader NeilKumar said although the ruggedterrain had created difficulties inthe establishment of Internet serv-ices for the west, it was worth look-ing back and reflecting on thesweat and sacrifice they put in toovercome the most difficult situa-tions.

“Fiji’s terrain is really rugged somoving to the west from Suva washard because we found a lot ofobstacles in terms of getting leas-es, building towers and gettingproper equipment set up to providethe best service ,” he said.

The need to cut through certainparts of Viti Levu’s interior to getto their destination was no easyfeat.

“It’s a good thing to have a moun-tainous landscape in Fiji becausewith cables, you cannot go every-where. And we have many islands inthe Mamanuca’s and Yasawa’swhere we cannot run cables. Havingbuilt base stations, we can reachother places faster if they sign upas we also have high speed prod-ucts,” he said.

The launch of KIDANETInternet services to the WesternDivision was a big step whichaugured well for its west users.

“It’s a big step and it’s good forthe people in the Western Divisionbecause they have a choice now tochoose which service provider theyprefer.

“And we also give trials for poten-tial customers if they want to giveus a trial before signing on. It isgood for the consumers and alsogood for us. As the monopolybreaks, people get better productsand cheaper rates,” he said.

Mr Kumar said they had confi-dence in their products and had noreason to rely on signed contractsto secure their consumers.

“We believe in our service. Wedon’t sign up contracts for our cus-tomers. There are no contractualagreements. If customers want toapply for our service they are freeto do so. Our backbone is FINTELwhich is a plus for KIDANET,” hesaid.

Advertisements and awarenesscampaigns were being planned forresidents and businesses in theWestern Division.

“As we spread out to the west,major advertisements are in thepipeline and there are also plans toextend to other parts of Viti Levuand Vanua Levu,” he said.

Communication equipment wasextended from Vatuwaqa where theKIDANET communications centeris based through to Monsasavu,Lololo and Sabeto from where linkswere then spread to Lautoka andNadi.

“The links from Vatuwaqa toSabeto are our backhaul link – themain link accessing our core net-work in Suva,” he said.

Mr Kumar said KIDANET servic-es were completely launched onApril 1 with their full network.

“We have 76 corporate customerswho have signed up in one monthand we have yet to target residen-tial customers so with thatachievement of customers in onemonth, we can only expectresponse from the people toincrease,” he said.

The Nadi office employs twotechnical staff and three employ-ees for the sales and marketingwhile two trainees are also onattachment duties. Plans are alsoin the pipeline to open office inLautoka in a few months.

KIDANET West Link project manager Sairusi Naivaluwaqa (top right)with staff of KIDANET at the launch of KIDANET services to Nadi andLautoka.

KIDANET West Link project man-ager Neil Kumar.

The name KIDANET isderived from the Fijianword kida which means the

break of dawn. It symbolisesthe dawn of a new Internet erain Fiji.

“It reminds us of the hugetask we have – to shake up theindustry and to give the cus-tomers a better choice,” saidKIDANET chief executive offi-cer Jone Wesele said.

KIDANET is a wirelessInternet service provider incor-porated as a company onNovember 1, 2006. Its commer-cial operation commenced onApril 1, 2007.

Dynamic and culturallydiverse to say the least,KIDANET aims to provide thebest Internet services availableand encourage Internet use.

Add to that its endeavour togrow nationally while offeringan excellent work environment.

With the use of world-classtechnology, KIDANET pairs offwith its Australian based part-ners Paclink – a leading SouthPacific systems integrator, andAlvarion - the world's leader inwireless broadband solutions.

You can expect a stable andefficient infrastructurethrough the Breezemax plat-

form they employ to bring youup to date with the rest of theworld. Breezemax is reportedlythe most advanced commercialWiMAX solution available onthe market used by over 150operators in more than 30 coun-tries the world over.

Whether your lifestyle isfixed, nomadic or portable,Breezemax services offers aclear path for communication.

That together with the OFDMradio technology is robustenough to hook you up even insensitive, adverse channel con-ditions and non-line-of-sightlinks.

Break of dawnNaisoso Island Fiji managing director Bob Lowres (front) is all smiles. KIDANET manager commer-cial/marketing Philip Lee (back left) and Naisoso Island Fiji manager Spencer Lowres share in themoment.

www.fijitimes.com.fj40 FIJI TIMES —FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010

KIDANET launch in Nadi & Lautoka FINTEL West Link Project

Is KIDANET as reliableas cable or dial-up?

Yes. With KIDANET,you’ll enjoy an always-on,always-secure connectionthat never ties up yourphone line.

How does KIDANET’sspeed compare to wireless,DSL, cable and dial-up con-nections.

KIDANET lets you con-nect at broadband speeds ofup to 2Mbps and customersare directly connected tothe FINTEL gateway.

KIDANET also uses atechnology (WiMAX), thatis superior than others inthe market. KIDANETservice is comparable toDSL and better than otherwireless and dial-up con-nections.

Is it easy to set up my ownKIDANET service?

Yes! After you’ve chosenthe KIDANET service planthat’s right for you, youcan set up KIDANET your-self in just minutes, withthe instructions providedto access our service. Alsowe could assist you to con-nect to our service

How secure is the connec-tion?

Your KIDANET connec-tion is very secure. That’sbecause KIDANET wirelesstechnology uses Alvarionwireless equipment thatsupport encryption.

The device authenticatesusing secured certificateswhich is embedded in theCPE and base station.

For Wi-Fi connection,users will be authenticatedusing HTTPS.

How can I use myKIDANET connection inmore than one place?

With KIDANET, you canconnect to the Internet inmore than one location.

If you move location allyou need is to inform us ofyour new location and wewill install your CPEequipment to be connectedto the nearest base station.

With your WiFI enabledlaptop, you should be ableto access Internet at anyHotspots or Hot zones thatKidanet will provide for it’scustomers.

How does KIDANET con-nect wirelessly?

KIDANET uses state-of-the-art wireless technolo-gy to transmit signals toand from your modem onfully licensed and protect-ed frequencies.

Your connection isalways on and alwayssecure.

What issues could impactmy ability to receiveKIDANET signals?

You must be within theKIDANET service area toreceive a KIDANET signal.

It is possible to be withinthe coverage area but notbe able to receive a signaldue to unusual geographyor to be within the cover-age area but not adequate-ly receive signal due tounexpected circumstances.

Are there any limits tobandwidth usage?

Depending on theKIDANET service plan yousign up for, if you haveexceeded the maximumdata cap KIDANET offersseveral different serviceplans, each with through-puts and speeds designed tomatch your needs.

What’s an IP address?Every computer that

communicates over theInternet is assigned an IPaddress that uniquely iden-tifies the device and distin-guishes it from other com-puters on the Internet.

What’s the differencebetween a static and dynam-ic IP address?

A static IP address is anumber that’s assigned to acomputer by an Internetservice provider to be itspermanent address on theInternet.

Dynamic IP addressing,or DHCP, provides a differ-ent IP address each timeyou connect to theInternet.

Dynamic addresses arekept in a pool and areassigned on a first-come,first-served basis.

What is BreezeMAX PRO?BreezeMAX PRO is part

of the Alvarion wirelessequipment system used byKidanet. As the globaltrend towards wirelessInternet technology con-tinues, BreezeMAX PRO isthe first of its kind to bereleased commercially ascustomer premises equip-ment (CPE).

Installation of theBreezeMAX PRO CPE givesKIDANET customers anadvanced range of supportservices, including highbroadband speeds and qual-ity of service for voice andmultimedia applications.

What are the advantagesof using BreezeMAX PROCPE?

Using the new WiMAXbroadband interface chipdeveloped by Intel,BreezeMAX PRO repre-sents the latest in wirelesstechnology.

The system providesnon-line-of-site (NLOS)functionality at a highcapacity, allowing for fewerbase sites.

Its carrier class designrequires minimal mainte-nance featuring networksurveillance functions,monitoring, configurationand fault management.

With the reduced infra-structure needs and loweroperating expenses offeredby BreezeMAX PRO, userscan offer multiple servicesto thousands of subscribersfrom a single base station.

What are the installationbenefits for BreezeMAXPRO?

Installation ofBreezeMAX PRO equip-ment is easy and affordablefor only $599, with seamlessintegration into existingBreezeMAX networks.

The adaptive modulationof the equipment maxi-mizes bandwidth and linkrobustness even in harshweather and the systemalso features automatictransfer power control(ATPC) to enable high per-formance with minimalinterference.

Frequently asked questions

‘Your connectionis alwayson andalwayssecure.‘

Left to right: Darahak Patel, KIDANET West Link project manager Neil Kumar and Iliyaz Ali at Denarau Golf andRacuqet club in Nadi celebrating the launch of services to parts of the Western Division.

The sky’s the limitKIDANET is simply the

fastest, most afford-able and reliable

Internet service availableto Fiji's home users. It'salso extremely flexible toyour growth with the serv-ice.

@HomeAs your needs and use of

your service increase, wework with you to ensure itall happens smoothly.

There is no maintenanceor additional work neededon your equipment afterthe initial install, either.

If you want to be movedto a faster speed plan, yousimply contact us and wecan upgrade your serviceautomatically.

It couldn't be easier.One of the best parts

about KIDANET's service isthat fact that there is nousage cap at all.

We've been listening tocustomers and this is whatthey want.

With KIDANET, you canwatch online videos, surfthe web non-stop and listento Internet radio.

There is no limit to whatyou can do with super-speed Internet servicesfrom KIDANET.

Choose a speed from theservice selections on theleft menu, sign up and getgoing.

@Work KIDANET’s super-speed

business Internet accessplans are permanent,always-on Internet connec-tions delivered wirelessly

through a cutting-edge,state-of-the-art network.

That network is continu-ally monitored 24 hours perday, seven days per week,365 days per year ensuringan enhanced experienceover our competitors.

We’ve been listening toyou, too. KIDANET’s accessplans for businesses allinclude the following:-

• 8.30am - 10pm customermonitoring and supportthrough Fintel’s networkoperations center

• High capacity connec-tivity to the Internet

• Primary and secondarydomain name services

• Service level guaran-tees backed by rebates

• Email forwarding• No usage caps/unlimit-

ed usage.

@School KIDANET is ultimately

about connecting people.We are also very much

about improving the liveli-hood and development ofthe people of Fiji.

That begins, in part, withthe children and their edu-cation.

Education packages aregeared towards gettingschools connected, keepingthem connected and help-ing them introduce thepower of communicationsto their student body.

Based on our corporatepackages but designedaround the tighter budgetsof educational institu-tions,

@School Internet pack-ages are an important stepin the growth of Fiji.

‘ We’ve been listening to you too.‘

Left: Helen Lyon and Libby Lowres. Above: Rahul Solankiand Paclink chief executive officer Craig Martyn.

Calm down!We’re here.

Now iN Nadi & Lautoka