COUNTRY FOCUS : KUWAIT

The move to these new headquarters represented an opportunity to install a high quality IT network infrastructure to enable both internal and external communications to be fast and reliable . IT plays a vital role in the Ministry of Education ’ s operation and as the main electromechanical infrastructure contractor , Kharafi National was tasked with finding a services provider that could specify , design and install the most appropriate solution .

Kharafi National ’ s Abdalla Musleh acted as construction manager for EPC and MEP services for the project , and comments , “ We contacted Alamiah Technology Group ( ATG ), as it is one of the leading suppliers and installers of structured cabling in Kuwait , and after describing what was required we felt confident that it could fulfil the brief . We needed a cutting edge cabling system that could offer the ultimate in future proofing and would be capable of supporting network speeds of 10 Gigabit Ethernet . This would not only support voice and data requirements , but would also permit other IP based building services to be networked as necessary .”

ATG is an IT firms in Kuwait , with a 15-year history in providing intensive technology solutions . Ahmed Alfaleh , the company ’ s infrastructure product manager , explains , “ Everything is smart in today ’ s buildings and the Ministry of Education headquarters is no exception . Structured cabling must be able to handle the advanced networking services provided to the building occupants . As a Brand-Rex Approved Partner , we know how important a best in class network cabling infrastructure would be to the success of the project and decided that a Category 6A 10GPlus system for the horizontal and an optical fibre backbone from the FibrePlus portfolio would be the perfect solution .”

Alaa Habanjar , Country Manager – Qatar , Kuwait and Levant at Brand-Rex , states , “ We wanted to

go beyond the Ministry of Education ’ s and Alamiah Technology Group ’ s expectations by not just meeting Category 6A performance standards , but exceeding them . 10GPlus is a 3P approved cabling system that has been rigorously tested under strict conditions and is manufactured in accordance with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2008 . Meanwhile , for the fibre optic cable backbone , OM3 FibrePlus offered the most robust and resilient solution . The entire system is also backed up by an industry leading 25- year warranty , which the client found very impressive .’

After debating whether to use shielded or unshielded cable , it was decided to use the latter . Even though there has been a great deal of discussion in the press and elsewhere about the ability of unshielded twisted pair to achieve 10 Gigabit Ethernet performance due to alien crosstalk issues , this isn ’ t a problem for 10GPlus U / UTP as it has a unique Reuleaux shaped cable that reduces interference from adjacent cables and incorporates very highly balanced pairs . This level of performance has been independently verified in 100m length testing for both the cable and the channel configurations . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO

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