Before Starlink existed, a remote Western Australian mine site was stuck on a 2 Mbps/2 Mbps satellite link. Panda IT designed and built a six-hop solar-powered microwave network to a Tom Price business with a 100 Mbps fibre connection, connecting the mine to its head office at real broadband speeds. A major telco quoted $4.6 million to run fibre; the microwave solution was built for $69,000, excluding the existing Tom Price connection supplied by the mining company.
Key results
- 100 Mbps
- connection to head office
- $69,000
- network build cost
- 6 hops
- solar-powered relay sites
- Cyclone rated
- towers, mounts and enclosures
The challenge
- The remote mine relied on a 2 Mbps/2 Mbps satellite link with high latency and poor reliability.
- A major telco quoted $4.6 million for a dedicated fibre run.
- No commercial power was available at the relay sites across the six-hop path.
- Extreme heat, dust and cyclone exposure shaped the Pilbara installation.
The solution & results
- Surveyed the terrain and designed a six-hop microwave path to existing fibre in Tom Price.
- Built solar-powered relay sites with cyclone-rated towers, mounts and enclosures.
- Delivered a 100 Mbps connection to head office.
- Completed the network build for $69,000, excluding the existing Tom Price connection.
“For the first time we could run our mine systems, video calls and file transfers like a real office. The satellite days felt like a different century.”