Andrew was born in Hobart, Tasmania, where he has completed a degree in Engineering. Andrew came to Sydney for a holiday 19 years ago and stayed there ever since. He then worked in various commercial and engineering roles at PanAmSat, Comsyst, Optus, and Telstra. In 2003, together with Steffen Holzt, Andrew co-founded Pactel International.
Steffen Holtz (top) Andrew Taylor (bottom) SatMagazine (SM)
Steffen, would you please tell our readers about your business background? How did you and your partner, Andrew Taylor, form your company?
Steffen Holzt
I started my career in the International Trade and Finance sector and came to satellite industry by chance in 1992 through a DTH TV business I was running. Due to evolving technology, I moved from providing TV services to data services in 1999. While we have had some rocky times when we started the company, it is now well and truly in cruise control. Odds are if you send an email at 11:00 p.m., there is a chance you get a reply by midnight.
SM
Steffen, could you please tell us about Pactel’s background. How did it originate?
Steffen Holzt
The company was formed in 2003 due to the need of one of our customers to establish a POP in Sydney. This customer was an anchor client and this allowed us to develop other customers in the Pacific region.
SM
Andrew, what was the state of telecommunications in the Pacific Islands when Pactel International came into being?
Andrew Taylor
The Pacific Islands were served by the “big guys” with little respect for the specific needs of their customers. All major providers offered long term contracts, poor service reactivity and rather expensive rates. I must admit that we take a certain pride in bringing solutions to the customers which significantly improves the ongoing service experiences and helps closing the digital divide.
SM
How did Pactel International evolve since its founding? What is its current strategic direction as compared to when it began operations in 2003?
Andrew Taylor
Pactel has developed from a small startup business to a rather large player in the telecommunications industry in the Asia Pacific region. It has not only evolved in regards to figures: it has evolved technically and professionally into a company whose personal, customer-based approach is followed by other players in the industry.
Steffen Holzt
Our strategy for 2010-onwards is to continue to provide services based on our company motto: “Big enough to cope, small enough to care”.
SM
What are the major points of critical focus for the Company?
Steffen Holzt
Pactel International’s main focus has been to provide reliable rapid deployment of voice, data and mobile communications solutions, under harsh environments via satellite within the Asia-Pacific region. We have mainly been concentrating on the remote islands and locations as our target market.
Andrew Taylor
We have served a number of industries in the Asia-Pacific market, such as Government Agencies, ISP’s and resource sectors, such as Mining, Oil & Gas — both have been our main focus for the past couple of years.
Steffen Holzt
We are planning to expand our portfolio of products and services for this sector as well as to customize our existing ones.
Andrew Taylor
We are already offering services such as 24-hour phone support, disaster recovery system and regular data backups to enable head offices to communicate with remotely located operation sites. We believe our main focus will be increasing data security, timeliness and responsiveness to the changing telecommunications needs of the Mining, Oil & Gas sector.
Steffen Holzt
We are also attending the Australian Oil & Gas expo in Perth this March, where we are planning to demonstrate our current solutions for the Mining, Oil & Gas sector and discuss how we can customize our products to help our clients achieve their business communications needs.
SM
What type of a product/service could exhibition delegates expect to see at your stand?
Andrew Taylor
We believe that companies in the Mining, Oil and Gas industries require constant contact with the rest of the world — whether they are located offshore or hundreds of kilometers inland. Information, whether it is regarding environmental emission limits, operating targets or accurate view of production, is the key in any decision making process, which needs to be provided to decision makers regardless of how far they are from the actual work site. We are capable of providing fast and reliable data transmission services and operating at remote locations under harsh weather environments.
Steffen Holzt
This includes core services such as local and international private leased line, Internet backbone connectivity; GSM solutions in remote locations; telephony over IP services; high speed data transfer services and VOIP gateways as well as value-added services, such as tracking and monitoring the entire network from end-to-end with 24-hour phone support; trouble escalating, load rebalancing, network security assessments; regular data backups and provisioning of a disaster recovery system.
What about the business solutions for your other target markets?
Steffen Holzt
Apart from the mining, Oil and Gas, we also provide telecommunications solutions for the telecommunications carriers, ISPs, government organizations, broadcasters and businesses that have a need for dedicated solutions to meet their connectivity challenges. We offer VSAT data solutions, International Private leased line, equipment hosting and satellite ground system; network design and mobile GSM solutions.
Andrew Taylor
Pactel is able to customise existing solutions to match the most specific business telecom needs.
SM
What are the major highlights of the past year?
Steffen Holzt
Apart from the rollout of Pactel Mobile in May 2009 — a major mobile system in the Pacific Islands — Pactel International has managed to restore a Mobile Network in Funafuti, which was damaged by storm in 2007, leaving the Island’s customers without mobile phone coverage.
Andrew Taylor
Product wise, Pactel International has developed RICS (Rural Internet Connectivity System), which is designed to provide 2-way Internet connectivity to all of the Pacific Island Countries and 5 and 10 Watt EGSM TMBTS (Tower Mount Base Transceiver Systems), which are designed to facilitate cost-effective GSM deployment in rural or currently unserviced areas.
SM
Can you provide an example of the RICS and TMBTS service and how such compares with other technologies?
RICS provides point to point Internet connectivity and it is directly connected to the US Tier 1 backbone via Hawaii, providing unprecedented performance and low latency. The RICS (second generation) is based on the SHIRON DVB-S2 ACM Intersky platform, using the latest modulation techniques to ensure reliability, availability and throughput. An advantage of using RICS over other Internet connectivity technologies is the simplicity of its installation and its suitability to serve smaller markets, where the larger existing systems would be financially unviable.
Steffen Holzt
TMBTS facilitates cost-effective GSM deployment in rural or currently unserviced areas. TMBTS is simple to install, requiring only Power and Ethernet connections to be run up their mounting pole. The system is a professional solution which suits all markets from Mining, oil & Gas to rural villages and marine applications. TMBTS’s key advantage over the existing mobile networks is its cost-effectiveness.
SM
Where is Pactel International heading over the next year?
Steffen Holzt
We are planning to deploy the latest technology to the DVB-S2 market, which is the latest and most advance technology currently available in the satellite arena.It will allow us to use small antennas with better signal strength and speed with lower power consumption (less then 30W). With this new technology, we will be able to support applications such as VOIP, Internet, Video conferencing and realtime video, GSM, maritime, mining, oil and gas solutions all on the same platform.
More Info Regarding PacTel's RICS...
Pactel International has developed a cost-efficient and self-installable Internet connectivity system, suitable for the Pacific Islands.
The RICS (Rural Internet Connectivity System) is designed to provide 2-way Internet connectivity to all of the Pacific Island Countries with Internet download speeds between 256kbps and 2.048Mbp, using a 1.2m KU band antenna.
RICS is directly connected to the US Tier 1 backbone via Hawaii and provides unprecedented performance and low latency. The RICS (second generation) is based on the cutting edge SHIRON DVB-S2 ACM Intersky platform, using the latest modulation techniques to ensure reliability, availability and throughput.
HTTP acceleration is provided as a standard feature, ensuring high single-session throughputs. The standard RICS service may be “content kept” to filter offensive websites, if required by the end user. Peer to Peer downloads may be blocked or throttled at the basic subscription level, leaving the platform resources available for day to day Internet usage.
Compatibility with VOIP services is ensured, so your favorite application like Skype or Net-to-phone will perform seamlessly on the Generation 2 Platform.
Self-installation is the key part in RICS service. It allows end users to download the installation manual and perform the commissioning of the Satellite dish and the pointing procedures independently, saving costly installation fees.
The complete set of equipment measures only 0.350 cbms and weights 48 kgs, making shipment costs more manageable. Therefore, courier services like DHL or FedEx will transport your RICS Satellite equipment without any issues.
Coverage includes all Pacific Islands except Australia and New Zealand.
RICS runs on 220V or 24 Volts and consumes only 30 Watts of power, resulting in compatibility with solar equipment.
Online billing procedures allow users to manage their usage and subscription level. Unlimited downloads and capped services options are also available.