User Tools
This is an old revision of the document!
Table of Contents
Our Customers And Their NOCs
Author: David McGee
Introduction
In terms of Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), Errigal has two large-scale telecoms customers in North America. These include American Tower and ExteNet Systems.
Both customers operate Network Operation Centers (NOCs).
- ExteNet's NOC is located in Lisle, IL.
- American Tower Corporation - NOC is located in Raleigh - NC
Both NOCs have approximately 10-15 staff and operate 24x7x365. We primarily build and support software for NOCs inside of large DAS integrators.
This results in Errigal managing 30,000+ DAS nodes for multiple providers: Approximately 20,000 for ExteNet and 14,000 for ATC
ExteNet is no Longer a Customer as of 2022
Our Customers
ExteNet Systems (Reference: LinkedIn Company Profile) is a leading owner and provider of Distributed Networks in North America.
ExteNet design, own and operate multi-carrier - often referred to as “neutral-host” - and multi-technology Distributed Networks to ensure multiple wireless service providers (WSPs) can provide their 3G and 4G LTE wireless voice and data services in the most effective and efficient manner in both Outdoor and Indoor settings
American Tower (Reference: americantower.com) is an American publicly held company, owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure in several countries. American Tower is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and has local offices worldwide
Errigal also has a number of other customers including carriers, utility companies, and WIFI performance providers:
What is a NOC?
A Network Operations Center (NOC - Pronounced “knock”) is one or more locations from which NOC Technicians monitor network elements for an entire network.
These elements, often referred to as “Nodes” can range from telecoms antennas providing voice and data coverage to mobile users to environmental elements at “Hub” locations for monitoring air, water, temperature conditions.
Within Errigal, the terms “Hub” (or “Controller”), “Node”, “Host”, and “Router” are often used in describing specific network elements in a DAS network.
Our customer's NOCs manage DAS and Small Cell networks across North America.
The core products utilised by NOCs within the IDMS include the SNMP Manager, Ticketer, Reporting Manager, and the NOC Portal.
Our customers (Known as DAS integrators) are kept very busy keeping cellular network providers (their customers!) happy. In turn, Errigal play a key role, day-to-day, in keeping our customer's customers happy!
We are beginning to also work with SMOCs (Smart Meter Operation Centres) inside of PG&E - A power utility company in California. This is part of a trial to develop the Errigal HSIM (Hybrid System Integrated Manager) for monitoring power smart meters.
Supporting Information
Self Assessment
Assess your knowledge by seeing if you can answer the following questions:
- What is a NOC?
- What type of device does Errigal's customer NOCs monitor?
- How many “nodes” does Errigal's software monitor?
- Aside from the information in this article, outline your understanding of what activities a DAS integrator is involved with.
- Who are our customer's customers? Why are they relevant to Errigal?
- What type of activities would you imagine a NOC Technician would be involved with, day-to-day?
