TNB Telecom selects Mimosa to support 700% increase in internet traffic at the Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

Mimosa’s backhaul technology adds 1 Gbps of bandwidth to support dramatic increase in traffic for tourists and spectators during Brazil’s summer of sport

Mimosa, the leader in cloud-managed, fiber-fast fixed wireless networks, delivered 1 Gbps of additional bandwidth to Brazilian broadband provider TNB Telecom to support the overwhelming rise in demand for online services throughout Rio during the last month. Using Mimosa technology, TNB Telecom provided high capacity services to locations across the city, including the highly congested Copacabana Beach hotel area where many of the international visitors were located.

To serve the 700% traffic increase in the region during recent weeks, TNB Telecom deployed Mimosa B5c connectorized radios and B5-Lite backhaul radios, delivering high-performance and high- availability links. Following just two days of thorough lab testing, the system was installed and provided the required increase in bandwidth across sites suffering network congestion. Even during the busiest periods, the company was able to offer 550 Mbps/450 Mbps in extremely challenging environments with high levels of signal interference and floor noise. Clients received between 20 Mbps to 200 Mbps bandwidth, depending on their demands.

Following the initial success of the system, TNB Telecom was able to supply additional providers with capacity to serve their customers. These installations included a ship docked close to Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow requiring additional bandwidth of 250 Mbps to serve crew and passengers, and an international satellite company requiring 100 Mbps full duplex connection between two of its buildings in downtown Rio.

“Providing connectivity able to support high-bandwidth services in dense urban areas during major international events provides a huge challenge for local operators, many of whom have little experience in provisioning for this level of demand,” said Jaime Fink, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Mimosa. “Delivering a scalable, high-performance broadband network able to cope with traffic increases of 700%, was an outstanding achievement and is testament to the expertise of TNB Telecom and the flexibility of the Mimosa solution.”

“We were surprised by the number of opportunities that arose during the summer,” said Felipe Ouro Preto, Operations Manager at TNB Telecom. “We examined a number of alternatives but the only way to quickly deliver the extra bandwidth required while considering cost and availability of products was to use Mimosa backhaul radios.”

To install the Mimosa backhaul radios around the city, TNB Telecom partnered with Mimosa’s official reseller in Brazil, Click Mobile.

“Mimosa B5c challenges the previous notions on delivering high bandwidth in 5.8 GHz,” added Fabio Moreira, Head of Click Mobile. “Even in a major metro area such as Rio de Janeiro, where multiple overlaid ISPs networks compete for spectrum, with good RF planning and the right antennas it is now possible to deploy quick and stable links with a fraction of a cost of licensed radios.”