Telstra unveils next-gen exchange on wheels

Telstra is touting a third-generation Mobile Exchange On Wheels (MEOW) trailer that can support twice as many ADSL2+ and PSTN services as its predecessor.

Linked gallery: Photos: Telstra's new mobile exchange on wheels

The carrier said Mark. III of the MEOW could handle 768 ADSL2+ broadband services, 780 PSTN services and 16 ISDN lines.

By comparison, the Mark. II trailer could handle 330 ADSL2+ and 330 PSTN services.

MEOWs are used to get communities back online after a natural disaster or emergency, such as a bushfire or the Warrnabool exchange fire late last year.

One issue in Warrnambool in the days immediately following the exchange fire was outages to ATMs and EFTPOS services, which caused problems for residents.

For the first time, the latest MEOWs will also be able to support payphone and ATM/EFTPOS services, Telstra said.

Telstra has built two MEOW Mark. III trailers and will base them at Gnangara in Western Australia and Flinders in South Australia.