Think Railways

Kapsch CarrierCom and the Algerian railways operator SNTF (Société Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires) signed a contract on the joint venture Rail-Telecom. Rail-Telecom is under joint ownership of SNTF (51%) and Kapsch CarrierCom (49%) as shareholding partners.

The agreement foresees a knowledge transfer initiative, the supervision and maintenance of the Algerian railways telecommunication networks, including the nationwide GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) and SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) fiberglass backbone, and promising infrastructure projects to be realized within the upcoming years.

The main goals of the partnership are to grow and establish railway telecommunications know-how in Algeria; to educate, train and supervise local experts, and finally to build, supply and maintain the Algerian railway network with state-of-the-art telecommunication technology.

“The Maghreb region and many parts of the Middle East have developed into an important target market for us in recent years, and will offer enormous potential for our sector in the future too. The knowledge generated from the joint venture between Kapsch and SNTF will support Algeria’s railway infrastructure project,” stated Kari Kapsch, CEO of Kapsch CarrierCom.

This joint venture follows a memorandum of understanding signed between Kapsch and SNTF in July 2013 to increase cooperation in the sector of secured telecommunication for railways. Kapsch has been the strategic supplier of Algerian railways for the GSM-R network and transmission backbone for more than 9 years. During that time the company has already deployed more than 3,000 km of rail track in Algeria within multiple projects, including lines such as El Gourzi Touggourt, Saida Moulay Slissen or Rocade Nord.