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New office heralds South
African business boom
Although only a few months old, the RFS South Africa office has already
landed major orders for mobile/cellular antennas and wireless distributive
communication systems.
The RF industry has welcomed the presence
of Radio Frequency Systems in South Africa,
with around 50 representatives from the
telecommunications industry attending the
opening of RFS’s Johannesburg sales office
on 22 February this year. Held at the
Caesars Convention Centre, the ceremony
also involved the Managing Director of RFS
Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA),
Dr Klaus Mischerikow, and the Chairman of
the South African German Chamber of
commerce and industry, Klaus Schuurmann,
who gave a short speech.
RFS is now well-positioned to consolidate
existing relationships and develop new
alliances in the South African RF technology
sector. “It’s important for our customers to
have a local point of contact,” enthused
Stefan Lehmann, Director of RFS South
Africa. “We will also be able to keep a
finger right on the pulse of the South
African market.”
Lehmann sees RFS playing a significant role
in each of the mobile/cellular, confined
coverage, and microwave communications
sectors of the industry.
With nearly nine million cellular phone
users—covering more than 20 per cent of
Attending the grand
opening of the RFS South
Africa office were (L to R):
Mark Davies, Director
Sales and Customer
Service EMAI; and
Stefan Lehmann, Director,
RFS South Africa.
the population—the South African telecommunications
market is currently
experiencing a boom. The two established
GSM 900 cellular carriers, MTN and Vodacom,
will soon be joined by the Cell-C
Consortium, operating a GSM 1800
network. The winner of the third GSM
license bid, the Cell-C Consortium is 40 per
cent composed of Cellsaf (a consortium of
30-plus companies), with the Saudi Arabian
conglomerate Saudi Oger holding the
remaining 60 per cent.
RFS South Africa has already won the
contract to supply antennas for the second
phase of Vodacom’s cellular upgrade. A
large number of RFS dual band, dual
polarised antennas with variable electrical
tilt are to be installed in the Vodacom
network by the end of the second quarter
2001. “The rapid turn-around on this order,
and the fact that all the antennas had to be
flown in, added to the challenge,” said
Lehmann. “It really helped that we were
here on the spot.”
Another major order involved the supply of
more than 60 kilometres of RFS RADIAFLEX
radiating cable to Becker Electronics, which
REGIONAL FOCUS 7
installed underground UHF communication
systems in a number of mines throughout
South Africa (see breakout story this page).
RFS South Africa contact details:
• office location: Chilworth Road, Founders
View North, Edenvale 1610, South Africa
• postal address: PO Box 9999, Kempton
Gate 1617, South Africa
• phone: +27 (0)11 452-3252
• fax: +27 (0)11 609 5324
RFS South Africa takes
communications underground
The South African mining industry now
enjoys advanced underground communications,
thanks to RADIAFLEX radiating cable
from RFS. A customised version of 1/2-inch
RADIAFLEX cable was developed on behalf
of Becker Electronics Pty Ltd, which first
installed the cable in the Western Area Gold
Mine—South Deep Section. Originally
designed to provide immediate and nearfuture
3G cellular confined coverage
requirements, the RADIAFLEX cables in the
mine are used for UHF-based voice, video
and data communications. The rugged and
rocky nature of the mine environment—as
opposed to road or rail tunnels—presented
a challenge to the installers. However, the
RADIAFLEX cable is engineered to resist
dust, moisture and humidity, and with its
excellent lateral propagation and low
system losses, proved a successful choice
for the application. Becker Electronics has
since used over 60 kilometres of
RADIAFLEX radiating cable in mines and
shafts throughout South Africa—including
the Northern Platinum Mine, Rustenburg
Platinum Mine, Town Lands Shaft,
Boshfontein Shaft and the Paardekraal
Shaft.