British Forces get connected with LAN2LAN

Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of Astrium Services, has successfully rolled out Wi-Fi services to complement its current WelComE (WELfare COMmunications Everywhere) provision to British troops in Afghanistan.

Paradigm has been responsible for providing welfare communications to troops since 1999. The WelComE service is now an integrated part of the welfare package provided to troops and Wi-Fi is the latest addition to the current service provided by Paradigm. After a successful Wi-Fi trial in 2008, the service has now been deployed at UK bases across Afghanistan. Paradigm is successfully fulfilling a UK MoD contract to allow British troops to “get connected” from their accommodation tents. In just one month on one site, 848 Gb of data, the equivalent of 134.6 million web pages, was downloaded on the network, showing just how popular the service is. To ensure that everyone gets a fair share of the service, each user has a daily Wi-Fi allowance. This means that the troops can each spend up to an hour a day not only sending and reading their emails, but also catching up on the news back home by surfing the web. Paradigm has selected LAN2LAN to work with them and provide the Wi-Fi service as the UK distributor for Trapeze wireless products. Paradigm and LAN2LAN developed the system design within the UK before deploying solutions to site.

John Goodman, Operations Director at LAN2LAN, said:
“The strong partnership formed between Paradigm, LAN2LAN and Trapeze Networks has been instrumental in the successful implementation of this ground-breaking project.” To ensure the reliability of the service, Paradigm has engineers based in-theatre to provide local technical support as well as support from the UK via the WelComE Customer Contact Centre.

Peter Bruton, Managing Director of Paradigm Services, said:
“We are delighted that the Wi-Fi service is already proving to be a great success amongst military personnel in-theatre and this represents a significant milestone in the WelComE service we provide here at Paradigm.” “Ensuring that military personnel can communicate with their family and friends back home is vital to their well-being.”

Date: 11/09/2009