TIM takes over Oi’s services in the frozen continent
By Lieutenant-Captain (RM2-T) Camila Marques de Almeida – Brasília, DF
At the beginning of this week, the Additive Term to the Technical Cooperation Agreement signed between the Secretariat of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources and TIM was signed. TIM took over the responsibility for the service that was provided by Oi in Antarctica in order to maintain the telecommunications services of the Antarctic Station Comandante Ferraz (EACF).
The technology is a milestone in the station’s history, as it allows scientists to quickly transmit heavy files with research data during long stays there. For the Secretary of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources, Rear-Admiral Marco Antônio Linhares Soares, this partnership between the telecommunications company and the Brazilian Navy is already a great success.
“The Brazilian Antarctic Program has completed 40 years of relevant research. Having a company that believes in research is of great importance. Telecommunication reduces the distance and facilitates the access of all who are in the Station. Both the researchers and the military personnel who spend long periods in Antarctica make connections as if they were making a local call,” explained Rear Admiral.
The installed antennas have an intelligent system of sensors and heating that reduces the risk of interruption of services due to ice accumulation. One of them is used to receive and transmit the signal used for data and voice via satellite and the other is dedicated to receiving the international TV signal.
Mario Girasole, deputy director of TIM, said it was an honor to take on the exceptional work the company has been doing: “We will combine the technologies to continue the good services already provided.
Telecommunications system in Antarctica
In January 2005, a modern telecommunications system was installed for the first time, entirely national, carried out by the company Oi. With integrated telephony to the Navy System, the EACF was connected to Brazil and the high-speed Internet gave agility to the research work, facilitating the constant and necessary exchange of information with study centers anywhere in the world.
Already in March 2019, the new telecommunications services of the EACF were inaugurated. With the installation of the antennas, the Brazilian scientists and military personnel who work there now have high-speed fixed internet, a mobile network with 4G connection, wi-fi access distributed throughout the station’s facilities, and a TV signal reception system.
The equipment installed in Antarctica is so sophisticated and efficient that the signal propagates to the Polish Henryk Arctowski station. The Brazilian station houses several studies ranging from climate change to biotechnology research, with the aim of implementing advances in medicine, agriculture, and other fields of science.
*** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***