Wireless Backbone Deployed to Connect Unwired Rural Areas in Malawi, Africa

Proxim Wireless Corporation's Tsunami.GX90 full duplex point-to-point Ethernet bridges and Tsunami MP.11 point-to-multipoint products have been deployed by Malawi Switch Centre Limited (MalSwitch), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, to support and deliver wireless banking services to the state capital, the commercial capital, and unwired rural areas.

This backbone is the cornerstone of the MalSwitch initiative to provide e-commerce services beyond urban areas. The backbone has been designed and deployed by Business Connexion, a leading integrator of wireless networking systems and a Proxim partner.

Malawi is a small, highly populated land-locked African country of approximately 12 million people. Its economy is predominantly agricultural-based, with over 80% of the population living in rural areas. The Tsunami.GX90 links span almost 187 miles (300km) linking the state capital, Lilongwe, with the commercial capital, Blantyre. The 45 Mbps full duplex backbone supports voice and data for MalSwitch commercial customers. Along the backbone, services are redistributed by Proxim MP.11 wireless access links to rural communities. The towns served join the backbone to access banking services in either Lilongwe or Blantyre.

"We carried out an extensive evaluation of vendors and integrators and decided that Proxim Wireless and Business Connexion offered us the best solution," said Grey Nkungula, Project Leader for MalSwitch. "We were impressed with the performance and reliability of Proxim Wireless products and with the ability of both companies to design, install, and support such an ambitious project."