Redline Communications (TSX: RDL), a leading provider of mission-critical wireless networks for the oil and gas industry, announced it has signed a significant contract with Hess Corporation, a leading global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, to provide wireless networks for its operations in the Bakken reserve area of North Dakota.

Redline is providing complete turnkey installations of wireless digital oilfield networks, including engineering services for developing network designs optimized for the complex Bakken topography.

Hess, who is realizing strong production growth in their US properties, has engaged Redline to engineer, design, construct, and deploy private wireless networks to bring high-speed connectivity to their oil fields. This ubiquitous network coverage will allow people and machines to communicate to all Hess systems, regardless of where they are located.

With this new private high-speed wireless network infrastructure, hundreds of vehicles, buildings, drilling rigs, pumps, oil facilities, and other assets owned or managed by Hess will be connected via Redline’s Virtual Fiber™ technology, creating a unified Digital Oil Field spanning approximately 6400 square miles across its first five focus areas.

Extensive amounts of data will flow from monitoring equipment and video cameras in the field into a centralized location where it will be analyzed in near real-time. This network will give Hess visibility into remote operations, and allow the company to use sophisticated data analysis techniques to identify what parts of the operation require attention, only then dispatching the appropriate personnel to take action.

Under this agreement, Redline will also develop the network architecture and design for Hess’s Bakken operation. Redline will deploy the first five focus areas in 2014, with an end-to-end solution that includes Redline hardware and software, plus professional services for network design, planning, construction, project management, installation, delivery, and support.

It is expected that similar networks will be deployed in five additional areas in 2015.

“Redline customers universally tell us that having the right network in place is key to creating the kinds of operational efficiencies that lead to increased production,” said Robert Williams, chief executive officer at Redline. “The Hess vision for its digital oilfield is inspiring and will put them at the leading edge of the industry, and Redline is very pleased to be selected as a key technology partner.”

The Virtual Fiber™ wireless network will be built using Redline’s nomadic (Rapid Alignment System) RAS™ platform, RDL-3000 and eLTE-MT systems. Rugged, reliable, and secure, these wireless broadband systems are specifically designed by Redline for harsh environments and engineered and built to the exacting standards required by the energy sector.

Redline’s network system offers the ability to instantly adjust to the living oilfield as a whole – whether the network use is coming from drilling, well monitoring, video surveillance, or individual’s accessing the internet or corporate systems. Both people and machines share a single Redline network, acquiring and keeping high-speed secure connections even as they move across the property.