Hikvision secure Türk Telekom infrastructure despite Turkish landscape

20 Oct 2013

Türk Telekom Group is Turkey's world-class, integrated telecommunication and technology services leader that offers its Turkish customers a complete range of fixed line, mobile, data, and internet services.

Türk Telekom, as well, is Turkey’s only integrated telecommunications service provider that owns the nation's conglomerate of leading regional communication and technology companies. However, impressive as this is, with Turkey's various topographical challenges, the issue of successfully overcoming equally impressive logistical hurdles was paramount.

In this vein, Türk Telekom enlisted the services of security solution installer Kent Güvenlik Sistemleri A.Ş. to provide security for the 240 Türk Telekom rural wireless cellular sites throughout the country.

Turkey's Geographical Challenges

As earlier noted, these 240 sites were not solely located in metropolitan areas such as the nation's capital of Ankara or the commerce center that is Istanbul. Instead, many of these locations were scattered within scarcely populated and difficult-to-reach spots (including, but limited to, high in the mountains).

As many of these sites are unmanned, security for this infrastructure was a natural concern.

These centers, called "rural control rooms" serve to connect the cities to the mountains and vice-versa through cellular means. Additionally, with Turkey's propensity for earthquakes, cellular communication has taken on a higher national priority. In fact, most communication from rural mountain areas to major metropolitan centers is now primarily achieved through cellular means.

The Kent Güvenlik Sistemleri A.Ş. Solution

Since the dynamics of this project were based on cellular technology, "the decision was made to use a hybrid solution for this particular large-scale project," noted Erdoğan Tekin, Technical Manager at Kent Güvenlik Sistemleri A.Ş.

After careful analysis of the specific demands this solution required, Mr. Tekin chose a combination of following Hikvision products.

The first is DS-9016HFI-S Embedded Hybrid DVR. The reality that Türk Telekom is a very large, long-standing company denoted that there are both analog and IP cameras in various capacities throughout Turkey. Güvenlik Sistemleri A.Ş. knew the DS-9016HFI-S worked exceedingly well with both types.

The second Hikvision tool is the DS-2CC1182P-A 600 TVL Box Camera. Mr. Tekin explained, "The DS-2CC1182P-A's durability was very, very important for this project. Due to the fact that many of these sites were in the mountains, this presented a dual problem. The first was the weather environment - it has massive shifts in extreme climate, including heat, wind, and bitter cold. The second was the inaccessibility of these sites. If a camera broke down, there really is not a realistic way to get a repair technician up there. Due to both concerns, the DS-2CC1182P-A's IP66 rating and Hikvision's reputation for quality and durability were extremely important."

The TV0309D-IR Lens was the third piece to this solution. Interestingly, before Kent Güvenlik Sistemleri A.Ş. chose this model, the company tested many other brands. After this testing, they found that no other brand offered the same high results: namely the nighttime LED performance was nowhere near as clear, and the TV0309D-IR resulted in much sharper IR images.

Additionally, as with the DS-2CC1182P-A 600 TVL Box Camera, since both are located in rural mountain-top areas, the quality of these DVRs is vital to ensure that the necessary images are sent to security personnel in Ankara, and their Ankara-based PCs to monitor these stations. The same requirement holds true with the DS-9016HFI-S's large 8 HDD memory. "In wintertime, it is virtually impossible to arrive at these sites, regardless of circumstance," added Mr. Tekin.

The final piece of this solution puzzle is iVMS-4200 Client Software. This software allows the connection of all Hikvision hardware. In this Turkish case, all 240 sites - and their Hikvision hardware - are connected through managers' PCs. Mr Tekin elaborated, "Every major city in Turkey is using this client software. In this fashion, Ankara is connected to each of these cities and to each of these 240 rural sites through this convenient software program."

Through this combination of Hikvision technology and versatility, even Turkey's formable mountains proved little match. And through this combination, the Türk Telekom Group's rural sites are secure.