ITN launched its second Earth Station on Friday, 17 October 2008. As part of this launch, ITN decided to have a competition in which we invited the corporate market to name the Earth Station.

The response to this competition was overwhelming and hundreds of entries were received both via SMS and e-mail. Although there were many good suggestions there can unfortunately be only one winner. Madryn Cosburn of One Africa Television was selected as the winner with his name of “OMAJOWA” and walks away with cash prize of N$ 5,000-00.

“OMAJOWA” is a Herero word for our Namibian Termite- or Anthill Mushroom.

“Omajowa, appear at the foot of termite hills after the rains and can weigh up to 1kg. They are quite unique to Namibia, are farmed by termites and despite best attempts, humankind has been unable to grow them, as well as termites.

The mushroom is also a symbol of rapid growth, and prosperity, and is highly valued in many cultures.

The fungi also play a significant role in the emergence of social homeostasis in Macrotermes colonies (Termite colonies). Indeed, in a remarkable way, it is actually not the termites that cultivate the fungi, but the fungi that are cultivating the termites.”

Courtesy of: http://www.esf.edu/EFB/turner/termite/fungi.htm

Says Madryn Cosburn, Technical Director of One Africa TV: “ITN is synonymous with this description of the OMAJOWA. Their entire history, up to this monumental point has been that of rapid growth. As a purely Namibian entity, they have proven their resilience in their market space by investing funds back into the network to the benefit of their customers. ITN is a true image of creating prosperity for the Namibian economy.”

“Omajowa1” - Geostationary Antenna – activated in December 2007:
GEO-Stationary satellites are exactly aligned with the equator, and their orbit path is circular. GEO-Stationary Antennas, for this reason, remain at a fixed position, on these geo-stationary satellites, also known as ‘Arthur C. Clarke Satellites’ or just ‘Clarke Satellites’. They are in a high orbit above the equator, travelling at the same speed as the Earth’s rotation. They orbit at an altitude of exactly 35,786 kilometres.

Together with this GEO Stationary Antenna, The Internet Technologies Group installed their own uplink hub in Atlanta, Georgia already in September 2007.

“Omajowa2” – Inclined Orbit Antenna – activated in October 2008:
IO (Inclined Orbit Antennas or Tracking Antennas) has the ability to ‘track’ their satellites. If the GEO-stationary satellite orbit is not exactly aligned with the equator, the orbit is known as an Inclined Orbit. These satellites appear to oscillate daily around a fixed point in space.

For this reason we have to track them with IO Antennas from the surface of the Earth. This is exactly what ITN is doing with their new digital IO Antenna tracking system. This new Antenna is also Namibia’s FIRST and BIGGEST Privately-owned Antenna that can actually track satellites in outer space.

Says John D’Alton, Managing Director of ITN: ”It was indeed a proud moment for ITN. This is quite a large investment as an addition to the current backbone and comes loaded with technology that will make any super-geek enter a near state of cardiac arrest.”

This is the second Earth Station in under a year, which is quite a remarkable achievement for ITN. This new antenna is 7.3 metres in diameter and has the ability to receive bandwidth of up to STM-1 capacity (155Mpbs). It has a digital tracking system assisted with motorised adjusters to continuously track the beacon signal of the orbiting satellite.”

As per the first Earth Station, The Internet Technologies Group also installed a new uplink hub for the IO Antenna, this time in Aflenz, Austria – during the second week of October 2008.

The Advantages of the OMAJOWA Earth Stations
The first GEO Earth Station was activated in December 2007.
The second IO Earth Station was activated and launched in October 2008.
Furthermore, with an owned and managed uplink hub in the other continents, ITN can now give customers a contention ratio of 1-to-1, all the way from the uplink and is the only ISP that can currently guarantee this service, from more than one up-link position elsewhere in the world.

Acknowledgements:
• Mr. Madryn Cosburn – One Africa TV -   http://www.wikipedia.org/
• World renowned Amy Schoeman - http://www.internet.na
• www.esf.edu - Internet Technologies Group (Angola, Namibia, South Africa)

Left: Barney Harmse (CEO Internet Technologies Namibia)
Right: Madryn Cosburn (Technical Director of One Africa TV)
In the background: Omajowa (ITN's BIG satellite dish)