Pactel International Participates in the MEDINET Project to Connect Remote Medical Facilities in Vanuatu

In 2010, Pactel International was appointed to assist the MEDINET Project (funded by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Commonwealth Secretariat) in Vanuatu by providing internet connectivity to medical facilities in the remote regions of the country. The aim of the project was to provide reliable, real-time electronic communications for administrative and clinical staff in Vanuatu Ministry of Health’s selected locations due to an immediate need for the communications infrastructure upgrade.

Pactel International partnered up with the international health consulting company, JTA International to design, procure and provision solar-powered VSAT data services to provide seamless communication between five key locations (Lenakel, Norsup, Lamap, Lolowai and Sola) and the capital city of Vanuatu, Port Villa. The Global Fund funded the equipment, the Commonwealth Secretariat supported the training and SPC managed the project.

The VSAT system itself is based on Pactel’s Rural Internet Connectivity Scheme, running on a KU-Band platform. It is directly connected to their fully redundant backbone via GE-23 (172° East) in Hawaii to provide dynamic allocation of internet bandwidth between all five locations. The system currently operates on solar power, resulting in cost-effective, constant and reliable power supply to the communications equipment. Pactel’s 24/7 remote network monitoring assists in bringing the sites’ network outages close to zero.

“In today’s society access to the internet is vital for enabling efficient business processes and communication. Thanks to Pactel International, the remote sites of the Ministry now have the resources needed to keep up with the technology that the rest of the world takes for granted," said Andrew Erbs -  IT Manager JTA International. “This national satellite network has laid a solid foundation which will underpin an array of projects, which have previously been impossible to rollout due to the lack of connectivity and vast distances involved,” Mr Erbs added.