Vizara Rubber Plantation premiers Maltech installed Local and Wide Area Network (LAN/WAN)
Over a decade ago, Maltech commenced its operations with a digitization project for Vizara Rubber Estate in the Nkhata Bay district. The Mzuzu-based IT company initiated its services in 2009, the same year it was founded, by setting up LAN and WAN networks for the rubber plantation enterprise. These networks facilitated the interconnectivity of the primary office in Vizara, the timber factory, and the rubber factory in Chombe, located approximately 5 km from the main office.
LAN, which denotes Local Area Network, covers a small geographical area such as homes and offices, while WAN, meaning Wide Area Network, spans a larger area. The network also serves as a transmission medium for signals from monitoring and fire alarm systems to the central office. Vizara is the largest natural rubber estate in Southern Africa, measuring 32.76 kilometres in length.
In this inaugural undertaking, Maltech linked the sites using radios (antennas). To achieve high-speed connections, two towers (masts) were constructed to obtain optimal signal quality. To date, Maltech manages an active internet connection in all homes on the plantation.
Before the estate’s digitization, data transfer for processing was done manually, and worn Ethernet cables impaired connectivity. Users experienced slow connections and a weak Wi-Fi signal. Additionally, accessing local network resources like printers was challenging.
More than ten years after its installation, the LAN/WAN network remains stable and enables fast communication between customers (users) and services. It has significantly enhanced local resources and internet sharing.
Maltech partnered with MTL to introduce high-speed internet to Vizara, utilising one of the towers installed on the estate as a replacement for a smaller terminal. Maltech’s responsibility in the collaboration with MTL was to ensure that the broadband internet connection was appropriately distributed over the estate, encompassing the timber and rubber factories as well as the manager’s bungalows.