Washington D.C. Utility-based Company Deploys Outside Plant Solution

Washington D.C. 

Westell was contacted through a distributor partner to provide a utility-based company in Washington D.C. a comprehensive outside plant solution for their location. The utility company required a partner that provided advanced outdoor cabinet solutions to house its sensitive backhaul equipment, which resides just a few feet from its dedicated EPR site. The data captured from the EPR unit is transmitted via cable (232) infrastructure to the modem, which has a 900 megahertz antenna. It then transmits over the air back to the site, which then processes the data.

The utility company chose Westell primarily for the company’s ability to provide customized OSP solutions, offering cabinets that would meet the harsh requirements and ensure long life operation without corrosion. The immediate benefit of choosing Westell that it no longer needs to pay recurring fees to carriers for cell modem backhaul – providing significant savings as well as unsurpassed security and reliability.

Westell’s Water Tested Boxer Outdoor Enclosures 

Case Study

General Overview

Westell was contacted through a distributor partner to provide a utility-based company in Washington D.C. a comprehensive outside plant solution for their location.

The utility company employs damage prevention communications, Enhanced Positive Response (EPR), a unique pressuring monitoring system utilized to monitor the upstream and downstream pressure where district regulators are located. In short, the EPR lets the utility know when there is a low- or high-pressure situation. A low-pressure situation would indicate that there is something wrong with the regulator itself, or a gas leakage; whereas a high-pressure situation would indicate a regulator malfunction. 

EPR reduces potentially damaging pressure situations enabling a safer, more efficient work environment. The monitoring system is unique within the industry and provides an unprecedented level of information, trust and accountability for all stakeholders, including the Washington D.C.-based utility company, involved in damage prevention.

The Need

The utility company required a partner that provided advanced outdoor cabinet solutions to house its sensitive backhaul equipment, which resides just a few feet from its dedicated EPR site. The data captured from the EPR unit is transmitted via cable (232) infrastructure to the modem, which has a 900 megahertz antenna. It then transmits over the air back to the site, which then processes the data. The utility company had also recently migrated its communications to a private radio system, and subsequently required an enclosure to protect and support its updated battery and solar panel systems.

The Solution

The utility company chose Westell primarily for the company’s ability to provide customized OSP solutions, offering cabinets that would meet the harsh requirements and ensure long life operation without corrosion. The immediate benefit of choosing Westell is that it no longer needs to pay recurring fees to carriers for cell modem backhaul – providing significant savings as well as unsurpassed security and reliability.

The utility company initially ordered SmartCom cabinets (A99- SCC2418-WGS) cabinets from Westell.