Telkom SA (NNMC)

Case study

Telkom invested in a 284-channel Barco Monitoring Solution to equip its new National Network Operations Centre based in Centurion, South Africa. One of the largest of its kind in the world, Telkom’s NNOC operates as a centralized point to monitor the status of the entire telephone network.

"The National Network Operations Center will operate as a centralized point to monitor the status of the entire telephone network, and to provide a single point of contact for resolving problems that are affecting service within the network," commented Reuben September, Managing Executive of Technology Network Services.

More info on the project
Investing in a monitoring solution for both the National Network Operations Center (NNOC) and the Information Technology Center (ITC) represents yet another step for Telkom towards preparing its network for the future.

This new NNOC officially began monitoring the network on October 22nd 1999. Nearly three months after completion of the 80-channel monitoring solution, Telkom’s management made the decision to invest in two additional 80-channel display walls spanning almost the entire length of the control room. Completion of this control center will make it the largest reference site world wide, in which a 320m" logical display provides real time data on daily operations using charts, graphs and network maps.

The information technology backbone on which the NNOC will operate is Telkom's Information Technology Center. This IT complex will incorporate a new primary data center for Telkom, as well as combined infrastructure management center and call center from where information technology operations and internal customer problems will be centrally managed. Responsible for the efficient functioning of the IT network, Telkom’s operators rely on a giant display of 44 rear-projection screens to detect, localize and isolate network problems on a 24 hour basis, 7 days a week. Further expansion of the display is currently planned.

Customer satisfaction
A Telkom team, investigating the viability of a control center, visited a number of telco operators in Europe during the planning stage. Issues such as design and functionality of a modern Network Operations Center were evaluated. As a result of its leadership in projection technology and expertise in network control software, Barco was contracted for the initial phase. Awarding the expansion of the NNOC display wall to Barco illustrates the accuracy and speed with which Barco’s engineers accomplished the project.