About SAS Global Communications
SAS Global Communications are a leading UK provider of Wide Area Networks (WAN) who design, deply and manage networks for customers to run their businesses. SAS Global monitor tens of thousands of devices across 65 countries and power managed services for some of the UK’s biggest ICR brands.
Challenge
SAS Global Communications were tasked in creating and providing an IT infrastructure and connectivity for 650 users all working on a £1bn road extension programme on the A14 in Cambridgeshire which would span over 4 years.
This needed to be a contained network that could deliver high speed, low latency and minimal downtime but be rolled out under stringent time and cost pressures, needed rapid deployment and temporary installations as the workforce moved from one section of the road to the next or go through quiet times.
Solution
Working with Wireless Logic, SAS Global used bonded routers, and added in more than one SIM. This meant that SAS could mitigate the risks of congestion and network downtime, whilst creating secure pipes that can deliver high-speed and low latency.
By specifying appropriate site based 4G routers, along with a central hub, high levels of data and traffic can be split across multiple channels enabling instant failover if one channel is unavailable. The bonding approach to a cellular-based network also delivers Quality of Service (QoS) configuration capability.
The partnership between Wireless Logic and SAS Global evolved following several trials, with roll-outs in a range of infrastructure solutions across the UK. Key services highlighted by SAS include the Wireless Logoc Management Platform, SIMPro.
SAS are now able to monitor all mobile networks through one window, with APIs back into the SAS eco-system. The SIMPro Platform enables users to track data activity, set threshold alerts, manage tariffs and cost-centres, and monitor overall performance of the deployment. With SAS infrastructures having the potential to use high levels of data, the need to observe and control usage is a vital tool.
Cellular WAN can use six or more channels per router with multiple SIMs to deliver the right levels of speed and data transfer.
Wireless Logic’s connectivity solutions include tailored tariff bundles with aggregation to enable strict cost and usage management within data-hungry projects. Importantly for SAS, this means one single point of contact to multiple Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). We support each contract with sector-leading SLAs.
Outcome
While rapid deployment and temporary installations are primary product solutions for SAS, the natural extension for any cellular-based network is to retain its services as a back-up for failed fixed line/fibre deployments.
Consequently, while immediate deployments can consume big amounts of data, with projects such as Cambridgeshire’s A14 road extension, many of the mobile deployments continue as a failover solution for the duration.
In all cases, whether for short-term or longer-term roll-outs, flexibility of contract and terms is commercially critical to ensure each project is financially competitive and tailored to the needs of the client. Wireless Logic and SAS have fine-tuned connectivity offerings so that contracts can be built around both fixed term and variable timeframes for each project delivered.
Using SIMPro, we enabled a custom provisioning system to enable additional routing services to be delivered by SAS Global to their customers.