Media Centre
Church Network Powered via Ethernet Telecommunications
Sydney, Australia - 2 August 2004 - Australia's largest church, Hillsong Church in Sydney, is using wide area Ethernet telecommunications to expand its data network both locally and internationally.
The technology-savvy Hillsong Church has been taking advantage of the business benefits and cost efficiencies of Uecomm Ethernet throughout its church network since early 2002. In fact, the latest showcase of Hillsong's adoption of fibre broadband was at this year's annual Hillsong Conference held at the Sydney SuperDome on July 5th - 9th.
To give Hillsong peace of mind that the Hillsong Conference would not experience slow Internet access or decreased connectivity reliability (which can be associated with traditional copper services), Uecomm constructed a fibre link into the Sydney SuperDome. The four megabit Ethernet connection accommodated Hillsong's business requirements plus the VoIP and Internet needs for more than 21,000 international and Australian delegates.
"We were able to pick up our whole business (located at the Baulkham Hills main site in Sydney) including IT, the call centre and marketing and simply plug in the network on the other side of town at the Hillsong Conference site at the SuperDome," says Hillsong's Technology Manager, Stephen Ollis. "There was no interruption to any services and we were able to work out of the SuperDome for the duration of the conference, Uecomm's Ethernet-over-fibre network was the most cost-effective solution."
The Ethernet fibre connection also made a 40-computer Internet café possible, offering full Internet access to all delegates.
"With the right IT infrastructure in place, any business can have the flexibility Hillsong has experienced," said Brendan Park, product and marketing manager of Uecomm.
The extreme speed of the Uecomm fibre network - up to 10,000 times faster than ISDN and 100 times faster than DSL - affords Hillsong the high bandwidth data communications services (such as VoIP), metropolitan and inter-capital connectivity and high-speed internet access required for its day-to-day business needs.
Driven by the Ethernet connection, the network also has the ability to stream video and the flexibility to broadcast to pay TV providers as the business grows.
"Information technology is about expanding the parameters of what is possible, and about finding new and different ways to communicate thoughts and ideas." concluded Park.
