MEDIA RELEASES

A summary of recent media releases appears below;

  June 29th , 2007 - Ford Ultramedia for Connected Home Solutions
  April 19th, 2007 - DDC assist in finding Australian soldiers MIA in Vietnam

JUNE 29 , 2007 - Ford Ultramedia for Connected Home Solutions

The nation’s capitol is set to receive a new master-planned community giving residents access to high-speed internet and Video on Demand.

Located between Mulligans Flat and Horse Park Drive in Canberra, Forde will become one of the first master-planned communities in the region. The project, a partnership between community developers Canberra Investment Corporation and Delfin Lend Lease, is a joint venture with the Land Development Agency and will be the first community in the ACT to have access to communications carrier TransACT’s new fibre optic network.

The new community, expected to contain more than 1,000 homes and a population of 2,500 by 2013, will also have access to TransACT’s new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) fibre optic technology.

“This was a unique opportunity for TransACT to put another strong tool into our toolkit,” says TransACT Project Manager Rod Barrett. “This technology works because vendors, like us, can guarantee service speeds because we’re dealing with our own fibre connections, and not with old fashioned copper cabling through a separate provider.”

TransACT, who already has an ADSL2+ and cable infrastructure in place in Canberra, successfully tendered for the provision of services to Forde in October, 2006.

Rod says the opportunity to move into FTTH technology seemed like the natural progression in building the company’s portfolio.

“The developers we’ve been working with at Forde are keen to install this technology into every house they’re working on,” he says.

“This technology has the potential to offer and provide all sorts of smart home applications. One man has already chosen to have the ability to feed his dog over an IP connection.”

As part of the project, TransACT will supply all of the optical network terminators (ONT) into the walls, and will provide access to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) so phones and laptops will always remain operational.


TransACT’s tender success will see the community granted access to the company’s subscription television service TransTV, genuine Video on Demand (VOD), and Voice and Data services such as phone and internet. Forde residents will be able to access broadband internet speeds of up to 30Mbps download and 10Mbps upload, with Rod expecting 10Mbps download and 2Mbps upload to be the most popular among residents.

“We have a distinct advantage in Canberra, having already dealt with our fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) Phase One customers, but we have had to spend a fair bit of time talking with builders to get their head around the specific wiring that is needed for this project,” he says.

“I suppose it is true that it’s difficult to teach old builders new tricks.”

Residents of the Forde community will receive unlimited free local calls to over 30,000 other TransACT phone customers, capped national and international call rates all day everyday, along with access to over 40 television channels with digital sound and picture.

TransACT’s smart home wiring partners, Diverse Data Communications, is working with builders to install their Ultra Media Package onto the TransACT FTTH network.

“Our Ultra Media Package has been installed in over 200 homes in the ACT, offering smart wiring solutions to domestic residences,” says Diverse Data Communications branch manager Shaun Comber. “We provide a commercial-grade cabling system for phone, data, video and TV distributed from the Ultramedia control panel located within the premises.”

“Our goal is to provide an fully flexible interface between the outside world, to the customers phones, computers, TV’s and media devices.”

Diverse provides a total solution complementing the latest Media Server technologies.

Diverse is currently dealing with builders and homeowners in the hopes of having their UltraMedia system connecting homes to the TransACT FTTH Network.

“Surprisingly, more people are aware of what smart wiring is and what it is capable of,” he says. “Smart homes are growing in popularity, and smart communication cabling should be considered as the 4th utility.”

Shaun believes that the reluctance of home owners to install smart wiring into existing homes could be the cost of cabling, as it can be expensive to retrofit cables due to limited access to ceiling spaces, wall cavities and the like. The installation of a smart wired system into a new property under construction has increased due to the combined awareness of the home owners and builders and the minimal costs. To install a smart wiring system to a new house is the equivalent of 0.6 percent of the total house value.

“Smart wiring should be thought as a required service in home, such as the water, gas, and electricity, it shouldn’t be something that should be left as a second thought ; this technology should now be a standard inclusion in all homes providing connectivity to all new forms of entertainment.”

“If it’s not considered there is every chance that the house will be completed and sealed up before somebody realises that they’ve made a costly mistake.”

“Diverse will assist in the design and layout of communications outlets in an effort to promote future planning ahead.”

Alongside Diverse Data Communications, TransACT has partnered with two other companies to deliver their services. End-to-end communications company Alcatel-Lucent will be providing the FTTH technology and head-end equipment, while fibre optic and copper telecommunications cabling provider Corning Cable Systems will provide in-ground fibre-reticulation services.

Homeowners are free to build their own internal networks, TransACT simply provides the capability to do so, says Rod.

“The roll-out of our FTTH technology in Forde will be similar to the roll-out of the 240V electrical supply. There will undoubtedly be an initial misunderstanding about the potential of the technology, but over time customers will get educated on what it has to offer.”

TransACT has prepared a document, Preparing the Home for FTTH, which will outline to homeowners and builders all requirements and ideas for optimal performance.

Contacts:
TransACT
www.transact.com.au

Diverse Data Communications
www.diverse.com.au

MAY, 2007 - O'Donnell Griffin Partners with Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney To Prevent Traumatic Injury

Sydney -- O'Donnell Griffin has made a major donation to the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney Research Foundation for a research initiative to help prevent injuries. O'Donnell Griffin is celebrating 100 years of involvement with some of Australia's most important major construction projects. Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney (RRCS), too, has also been working more than 100 years of working in partnership with their clients, many of whom have been hurt at work and at play.

The initial project team of ODG Leadership Team and RRCS management and Board Members identified the need to find the cause of the behaviour leading up to a fall resulting in traumatic injury. Falls are the number one risk for our staff in the industry- and falls are the greatest cause of injury to clients at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, often from a height under one metre.

With experts across industry and clinical practice, the ODG/RRCS team determined the aim of this initiative is to ultimately influence the behaviour of people at home and in the workplace to prevent a traumatic injuries through falls.

The Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney (RRCS) provides highly specialised, individual client-focused rehabilitation services for adults sustaining a wide range of traumatic injury and illness including neurological injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, orthopaedic injury and amputations, and age related illness or disease.

The ODG leadership team members, who attended the visit to the Centre's facility in Ryde NSW, were impressed by the dedication and expertise of the staff and clinical associates, the range of rehabilitation programs available to the community and the types of care the Centre provides.

"While financial contributions are very important to organisations like the RRCS, O'Donnell Griffin also sought to become more actively involved in a program we could identify and align ourselves with. Following discussions between the parties, an opportunity arose to fund a research project into the prevention of "traumatic injury from falls"together with the RRCS. The research project relates both to the community and the workplace and we are looking forward to implementing the learnings which may arise from this research." said David Lee, General Manager ODG.

RRCS CEO Peter Williamson said, "O'Donnell Griffin has demonstrated industry leadership in exploring this issue to promote a safer workforce, and ultimately improve quality of life across its organisation and beyond."

'We felt as a company, that we wanted to 'give-back' to the community, and participate in a community program that reaffirms our commitment to safety management and accident prevention not only in the workplace but every aspect of life." explained David Lee. "ODG is concerned with the safety and care of our people, and supporting the Royal Rehabilitation Centre seems to be a perfect fit for us as a leading Australian industrial contracting organisation."


"In addition, we will work with the Centre in building awareness and seeking support from other companies involved in the construction industry. We are excited about this community-based program.";

Media Contact:
Rachel Bejma, Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney          (02) 9808 9268
Paula Downing, O'Donnell Griffin                                  (08) 9479 8894.

APRIL 19, 2007 - Diverse Data Communications assist in finding Australian soldiers MIA in Vietnam

Operation Aussies Home (OAH) recently announced it had handed over to Australian authorities for finalisation the case of two Australian soldiers missing in action in Vietnam since 1965.

A volunteer team from OAH has unearthed human remains and artefacts in on old battlefield north of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The team from OAH, Vietnam veterans, worked the site over and on Tuesday April 17, 2007 uncovered the remains of what is thought to be two people buried in a makeshift grave.

OAH leader, retired infantry Lt Col, Jim Bourke said artefacts discovered in the grave strongly indicated the remains could be those of soldiers Lance Corporal Richard Parker and Private Peter Gillson who were killed on November 8,1965 and their bodies not recovered.

"We have notified the nominated representatives of families involved about our find and advised them that Australian and Vietnamese authorities will formally identify the remains," Mr Bourke said.

“We are advised the Australian government is putting together a team, including forensic specialists, to examine what we have recovered and to excavate the site.”

"We are confident, this brings to a conclusion a case that dragged on for more than 40 years," Mr Bourke said.

Four years ago, Operation Aussies Home began serious investigations amid scepticism from the defence bureaucracy and a major ex-service organisations.

"But our own persistence, the support of many individual veterans and generous financial assistance from private donors eventually got us to a point where the evidence we had was so substantial the Minister Assisting Minister for Defence, Mr Bruce Billson gave us financing to carry out this final phase of the project," Mr Bourke said.

Central to the success of the search was the use of two high-tech ground penetrating radar (GPR) provided by Canberra-based Diverse Data Communications and The Australian National University.

The volunteers supervised a team of local workers to clear vegetation and rocks from more than 4000 square metres of the hills side so that the GPR could be used to identify possible grave sites or former weapon pits; the two were known to have been buried in a weapon pit.

A mechanical excavator was used to dig more than 30 separate holes in a bid to find evidence of the pits and hand digging was used in those areas where anything of interest was turned up. A number of other likely areas identified in May 2006 were also excavated.

"As the team worked through the last pit where we found the remains, the diggers constantly whispered to the two men buried there, telling them they were now finally coming home," Mr Bourke said.

"Vietnamese workers - without whom we could not have completed this huge task - laid incense and fruit by the grave site and said prayers in a Vietnamese custom which truly touched us all," Mr Bourke said.

"This is an issue that goes much further than just the families of those who went missing."

"Many former comrades have carried the failure to recover these two men with them since 1965 and have been counting the days since," Mr Bourke said.

"All members of the Battalion at the time felt the loss - it was as if a huge black cloud hung over us after that day in November 1965." He said.

Vietnam veterans in the team were leader Jim Bourke of Melbourne a two-tour veteran who served in the same battalion at the time they went missing, two-tour veteran, former Royal Australian Engineer Warrant Officer, Peter Aylett from Brisbane who supervised the search program and Sydney-based two-tour veteran Walter Pearson who acted as interpreter and liaison officer with local authorities.

Former Army Reserve officer David Thomas of Nelson Bay supervised the excavations. Sydney lawyer Ray Latimer and Diverse Data Communications' GPR Operator Jeffery Wullaert of Canberra did the final painstaking digging work to unearth the evidence.

Paul Brugman from the Australian National University's School of Asian and Pacific Studies and Jeffery Wullaert of Diverse Data Communications operated the radar machines and did the data analysis.

Six Australian servicemen were killed in Vietnam and their bodies not recovered. A RAAF bomber crew and an SAS trooper remain not fully accounted for.

In April 1971, a MEDIVAC helicopter crewman was killed in a crash in hills outside Vung Tau south-east of Saigon.

On the 21-23 of March, OAH assisted a Department of Defence forensic investigation of this case. The Minister, Mr Billson is waiting for the report of the investigation.

Operation Aussies Home expressed its thanks to Queensland businessman Mr Paul Darraouzet for his vital financial support and to the Minister Mr Billson, the first Minister to seriously pursue the issue of Servicemen missing in action in Vietnam.

OAH also thanked all the individuals, veterans and non-veterans, who gave encouragement and support throughout this search.

MARCH 1, 2007 - ODG provides integrated signalling capabilities for $500 million Sydney - Melbourne rail corridor upgrade project

Corridor works on the Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd's $500 million Sydney - Melbourne Rail Corridor Upgrade project, which will reduce transit time by up to two and a half hours and increase the line's freight transport capacity, has commenced.

The corridor activity signals one of the most important projects ever undertaken in Australia's rail history. O'Donnell Griffin, a leading provider of professional specialist industrial and commercial electrical solutions, has formed an alliance with engineers CW-DC to provide ARTC with an integrated rail signalling design, install, commission and maintenance capability. This capability will provide a single port of call to ARTC and the Australian rail industry in general.

ARTC has entered into an Alliance style contract, known as the South Improvement Alliance, with O'Donnell Griffin/CW-DC as providers of signalling services and John Holland/MVM as providers of Track and Civil services to encompass the whole of the $500 million upgrade program of works.

The O'Donnell Griffin/CW-DC alliance allows ARTC the flexibility to select designers unrestricted by specific rail technologies and provides the latter with an installation team comprising diversified technical knowledge and experience.

"The alliance allows us to deliver a first class solution which will contribute to the development of a world class system and deliver our clients an integrated vision for rail in Australia," said Francis Dwornik, Rail Systems Manager, O'Donnell Griffin.

O'Donnell Griffin's Railway Systems Division has provided professional engineering expertise to the rail industry since 1980. Customers include most rail corporations in all States of Australia and companies such as BHP, Freightcorp, John Holland Construction, Leighton Contractors and Multiplex.

ARTC's South Improvement Alliance contract will see the provision of about 220 kilometres of new passing loops, extensive upgrading of railway infrastructure and the modernisation of the line's signalling system.

The end result will see rail freight transport become more competitive on the Sydney - Melbourne Rail Corridor with increased line capacity, reduced transit times and increased rail market share of the multi-million dollar interstate freight transport market.

For further information, please contact Paula Downing on phone number (08) 9479 8894.

September, 2006 - New Upgrade Keeps The Water Flowing

O'Donnell Griffin NSW has been awarded a contract from the Sydney catchment authority (SCA) for the complete upgrade of the Warragamba dam electrical infrastructure. the dam was opened in 1960 and stores 80% of sydney's water supply. building started back in 1948, and it is the largest concrete dam in Australia, and when full, its lake is four times the size of Sydney harbour.

ODG has the credentials for this task, having delivered similar projects including the Deep Water Recovery electrical installation for SCA previously. ODG Business Unit Manager, Mal Reid, said the project would completely replace the current electrical infrastructure within the dam walls, most of which hasn't been upgraded since it was installed in the
early 1950s.

The upgrade is taking place over a wide area, and while this is happening, the facility has to be maintained operationally. Being Sydney's main water supply continued operation is of paramount importance.

Mal said the contract had to take into account substantial environmental factors and ODG has retained the services of environmental consultants ERM, to assist. There is also Heritage listings on some of the older equipment and ODG have engaged a consultant to film and record the changes made to the infrastructure. One of the older Switch Boards is to be pulled apart cleaned and given back to the SCA for their heritage presentation.

The contract will be carried out in four separate stages, and incorporates design, HV/LV infrastructure and communication construction, and the PLC/SCADA maintenance.

The job involves replacing an OH HV system with an underground Ringmain system. Replacing lighting and power systems within the dam's extensive service galleries, including accommodation for potential flooding within the lower galleries. Replacement of the dam';s ventilation system, and installation of a new fire detection system. New instrumentation, and new SCADA and PLC systems, plus new security and communications systems.

Mal said the timeframe for completion of the job was 90 weeks.