It has been an incredible year for Telstra’s Network Construction team who have delivered on some amazing wideband, data, wireless and fibre construction and upgrade projects.

I know the team has worked hard to keep our customers connected and improve services, but to see this time lapse, short film, produced by network construction operative Mark Woods, really gives you a great idea of some of the work the team does and the environment they work in.

The background to this job was that the small crew (the stars of the video: John Coombe, Mark Woods, Steve Balding and Pat Moran), were tasked with building two remote radio towers using Next G® Wireless Link (NGWL) technology and upgrading two existing NGWL services to improve our customers’ experience at Kalabity Station.

NGWL is a wireless service that uses Telstra’s Next G® network to give the customer access to voice and Internet services for their home or business – very important to a large pastoral concern such as Kalabity Station.

Kalabity Station, which runs sheep and cattle, is a 185,600 hectare property located in South Australia’s thriving pastoral industry, approximately 120 kilometres west of Broken Hill.

Completing the job was no easy task. The team had to upgrade the original solar power system; install a second 10 metre pole and shelter; replace the existing 2.4 metre gridpack (large antenna) with an even larger antenna (a 3.8m gridpack); and install a new 3.8m gridpack on the newly installed pole. The work also included 1.6 kilometres of trench digging, the installation of a 10 pair cable and associated civil works.

While our Network Construction crews are obviously at home in the outback (see Telstra Constructors vs Wild), they are equally at home working on network builds and upgrades to improve services in our cities also (see Abseiling to improve coverage as one example).

Where does your job take you?