SPECIAL FOCUS: CONNECTED MINES
ocean when compared to the potential monetary and safety repercussions of delayed or undelivered data. With heavy equipment constantly rolling and unforgiving conditions underground, safety needs to be at the fore, and seconds are crucial. Without connectivity, you cannot gain vital fleet telemetry data or understand excavator performance. Satellite is currently the only fail-safe option to ensure connectivity isn’t compromised. It enables companies to retrieve real-time data and provides a robust failover should anything happen. Satellite connectivity, including the
newer low earth orbit (LEO) satellites -– which offer improved speed and ultralow latency to transmit sensor data -– is reliable, effective, and capable of bridging the gap between legacy technology and digital service evolution. What’s more, it can be implemented at a far lower cost than many might think to connect remote mines to head office and the supply chain.
THE IMPACT OF NO CONNECTIVITY Without consistent, reliable connectivity, mining companies not only become operationally hamstrung, but the impacts will be felt in performance and on the bottom line.
Remote connectivity can be put to use to benefit workers at the site
Robust connectivity is crucial for all
the reasons so far outlined. But crucially, it keeps an organisation efficient and operational – critical in the turbulent times we now face post-Covid. Satellite allows timely delivery of critical information, negating the requirement for employees to make frequent and costly onsite visits in areas not serviced by 4G/5G, and provides the ability to accurately diagnose problems online before any production time is lost and costly breakdowns occur. Satellite
a mine – at best cellular coverage is likely unreliable, at worst cellular coverage may be non-existent. Despite roll-out of faster wireless 4G/5G services, it’s estimated that only 15% of the earth’s surface has cellular coverage. However, for Europe at least, this has been accelerated due to strong financing provided by the Next Generation EU Plan – a temporary measure to help support the economic and social damage caused by Covid-19 to the tune of €750bn ($868bn).
Although satellite has been deemed an expensive option for many operators in the past, it is reducing in cost as more providers diversify their offering and devices that support exception reporting. Crucially though, the cost of an ‘always on’ connectivity solution is a drop in the
Thousands of satellites will be launched into Earth’s orbit in the coming decade
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