Telstra Mining Services and Newcrest announced the successful implementation of what they call Papua New Guinea’s first private LTE mobile network at Newcrest’s Lihir gold mine. This wireless communications platform will allow for greater levels of safety, remote operation and automation. Telstra worked with Newcrest to provide design, staging, site deployment and testing of the network.
Telstra Mining Services delivered a platform in partnership with Newcrest that is completely independent from public mobile networks. Newcrest was provided its own dual-frequency base stations, LTE core and SIM cards, with the network’s configuration and coverage designed and implemented to meet the Lihir’s safety strategy and long-term mine plan.
Telstra Mining Services’ platform also includes ‘HetNet’ functionality that allows the Newcrest vehicle fleet to switch between LTE and existing Wi-Fi networks without impacting critical mining applications. Newcrest complemented the LTE technology platform by implementing new towers, data centres and redundant power systems across the site.
