Fuel and petrochemicals company Sasol released its plan to bolster connectivity in Mozambique to enable its workers well-equipped and ready for the digital world.
Mozambique has become a hotbed of investor activity after one of the largest gas finds in the world’s recent history located offshore in the Rovuma basin, near the Tanzanian border.
About 20% of the gas Sasol produces in Mozambique is used for power generation there. The balance mainly feeds into an 860km pipeline to the company’s Secunda plant in SA, to be used in its production processes.
As part of its connectivity strategy, Sasol announced on Monday it has awarded a new multi-year contract to Speedcast Mozambique to provide onsite Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support services at four of its Oil and Gas Exploration and Well delivery campus operations in-country.
Speedcast will deliver a wide range of fully managed telecommunication services to Sasol Mozambique’s four base camps housing crew working on Exploration and Well delivery projects in-country.
The company will deploy an ICT solution, which set up to account for potential harsh weather with C-band Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) connectivity as well as terrestrial fibre optic Backhaul, Satellite phones and a Terrestrial radio infrastructure including mobile data backup and portable radio over IP using Inmarsat BGAN.
It added that value-added solutions, include internal and external voice services, Wi-Fi and crew welfare communications to each site.
Speedcast will also provide 24/7 onsite IT support managing internet, firewalls, document storage, printing, Voice Over IP (VoIP) and teleconferencing.
“Sasol is using technology to bring about administrative efficiency in an effort to enhance and secure its Information and Communication Technology systems while supporting the Local Content strategy by using local service providers,” Ovidio Rodolfo, Managing Director for Sasol in Mozambique says.
“Local Content as an integral part of Sasol’s Corporate Strategy and recognises the importance of the development of a local workforce and local suppliers in the regions where it operates.”
“Through this contract Sasol is looking for various techniques and methods of addressing connectivity challenges. It is essential for Sasol to facilitate business transformation, to ensure that our operation systems including our employees are well-equipped and ready for the digital world,” says Rodolfo.
Sasol is committed to contributing to the development of the local economy by stimulating the economy through structured local content focusing on preferential procurement, enterprise and supplier development and skills development for long-term economic growth.
Speedcast’s EVP of energy, Keith Johnson says: “Sasol has made a large investment with exploration in Mozambique, and we are proud to be the provider selected to support their critical operations and IT services in-country.”
“We were referred to this customer by another one of our long-standing global energy customers, which is truly an honour and a reflection of the quality of service our customers experience working with the Speedcast team. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding partnership as we strive to bring the best available networks and technology solutions to Sasol, to maximize their investment in this growing region,” he adds.
