Koolan Island

The shutdown of the existing satellite service had a fixed, tight timeframe. The Mining Comms Solutions team had to respond quickly and efficiently to meet the tight timeframe and install the required hardware, before the existing services were decommissioned.

All works were to be completed during the rainy season. From hot and humid days to heavy rain; the rainy season can present unpredictable weather patterns across Koolan Island. These working conditions were uncomfortable, and the heavy rain and lightning storms had the potential to delay the installation. To ensure the safety of staff, no works could be completed during these weather events. The team adapted their approach to accommodate the weather restrictions as best they could.

The new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system was new to Western Australia. Apart from a few test services, Koolan Island was to be the first major LEO satellite system installed in the State. As such, installing these new dishes was a learning curve for the Mining Comms Solutions team who had the added challenge of needing to calibrate and align the satellites to “True North”. Collaboration with the One Web tech support team to ensure a successful outcome, was key to overcoming this challenge.

The broadband satellite internet service “OneWeb” was not activated on time in the top end of Western Australia. Whilst out of our control, the delay in activating OneWeb services had the potential to significantly affect delivery timelines. To minimise the impact of this, the Mining Comms Solutions team split the project and installed two sets of satellites before the existing dishes were decommissioned, then installed the remaining two, once the delay was resolved. This required teams to work additional days, in trying conditions, to ensure the job was completed safely, to a high standard, and a return visit would not be required.