Hunting for Hussein's fiber-optic cable while bringing VoIP to Iraq

Satellite-based voice-and-data network proving to be dangerous business.

Amid roadside bombs from insurgents, the U.S. military has rolled out a satellite-based network for the Iraqi police that uses VoIP phones and Microsoft servers more reminiscent of an office in Boise than in Baghdad.

The VSAT-based network features a combined 150 pounds of satellite antenna from Proactive Communications, switches from 3Com and Netgear, and Cisco VoIP phones that are loaded onto a truck with modems, computers, and APC uninterruptible power supplies. Once that's all neatly tucked into a special casing, it is then driven out to locations where Iraqi police establish a post.

“The Iraqis are making the decision about where the sites go, and by the end of December, we will have transitioned this to Iraqi control,” says Lt. Col. Glen Botkin about what is known as the Iraqi Command and Control Network, or IC2 for short. “This is the only fully functioning Iraqi national command and control network.”

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Amid roadside bombs from insurgents, the U.S. military has rolled out a satellite-based network for the Iraqi police that uses VoIP phones and Microsoft servers more reminiscent of an office in Boise than in Baghdad.

The VSAT-based network features a combined 150 pounds of satellite antenna from Proactive Communications, switches from 3Com and Netgear, and Cisco VoIP phones that are loaded onto a truck with modems, computers, and APC uninterruptible power supplies. Once that's all neatly tucked into a special casing, it is then driven out to locations where Iraqi police establish a post.

“The Iraqis are making the decision about where the sites go, and by the end of December, we will have transitioned this to Iraqi control,” says Lt. Col. Glen Botkin about what is known as the Iraqi Command and Control Network, or IC2 for short. “This is the only fully functioning Iraqi national command and control network.”

Based in Baghdad, Botkin is Director of Communications and IT for the Civilian Police Assistance training team (CPATT) in the organization the Coalition Forces call the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq.

The organization’s goal is to develop the Iraqi police and army forces. Botkin’s team, with a lot of assistance from contractors, has the role of establishing communications for the police force, as well as border entry and customs in the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior.

The VSAT network, with the VoIP phones, was the fastest way to get a network up and running after the toppling of Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, by Coalition forces almost three years ago. But there are plans to enlarge the IC2 Network once the fiber-optic lines Hussein hid in the ground are fully located.

“There is fiber in Iraq but we’re not using it yet,” says Botkin, noting that Hussein had fiber-optic cable buried throughout Iraq for his own purposes, but maps for it never surfaced after the major battles. “But we are finding this cable and bringing it together. The intent is to migrate it to this other transmission medium.”

In the meantime, the VSAT network and service, which has cost more than $50 million, is expected to be used by upwards of 200,000 Iraqi security personnel in various jobs. But setting up the network is dangerous work for the Iraqis, the Coalition forces and the contractors that take on assignments.

“Every day there’s someone on the road with this,” says Marc LeGare, COO at Proactive Communications. “Communication between our government and Iraq is something the insurgents don’t want.”

The situation is dangerous. LeGare says two employees have been killed in the course of setting up the network at about 160 sites.

The satellite service to the sites is provided by Loral. Because satellite links entail some latency, using VoIP phones on them can be tricky, says LeGare.

The Cisco documentation on use of VoIP phones on satellite links is “quite up front about the questionable capability on 500 milliseconds of latency,” says LeGare. “We do see some latency with Cisco VoIP phones, but our engineers are mitigating it as they can, and we’re operating on the far side of 500 milliseconds where most people wouldn’t want to operate.”