The company that will manage the network, BWired, was unveiled in Soweto this afternoon. Speaking at the event, City of Johannesburg's (COJ) councillor Oupa Monareng said getting the project off the ground has been five years in the making, and will be used to develop the COJ into a world-class digital city.
Ericsson SA was appointed by the city last year to implement the R1 billion broadband network project. It is also the initiator of the new Johannesburg service provider, BWired. The aim is to establish a city-wide, high-speed broadband network that will ultimately stimulate socioeconomic development throughout the city.
Ericsson explains the roll-out of the 900km of fibre will take around three years to complete. However, sections of Johannesburg will be lit up with 1.2TB of local capacity, every six months.
The company had also entered into agreement with several local Internet service providers that could see the network expanded to include international capacity through the likes of City Connect, which – through its parent company – has access to Seacom.
The first areas to be lit up are Orange Farm and Soweto. The project will focus on connectivity in rural areas and the empowerment of small businesses. Each of the connected areas will also host several kiosks, and offer on-site support to users.
The initiative is entirely funded by Ericsson, except for the cost of the fibre, understood to be some R200 million, which will be carried by the COJ. The size of Ericsson's investment was not revealed.
Making broadband count
After five years, empowered telecoms service provider BWired will be handed over to the COJ, which will continue to operate the business. The company's focus is on providing broadband services, mainly in under-serviced areas.
“At Ericsson, we're committed to innovating to empower the societies we live in and take great pleasure in being a part of a project that will oversee the deployment of broadband within historically-disadvantaged communities such as Soweto,” says Lars Linden, Ericsson's head of market unit sub-Saharan Africa.
Keith Kenneth, MD of BWired, states: “Broadband is currently also being used around the world by communities to, among other things, improve public safety and by governments to improve efficiency. This has resulted in more user-friendly government services and huge cost savings.”
Johannesburg city manager Mavela Dlamini says that “with the increasing push from government, at all levels, to make more services available online, local governments will be able to use e-government to deliver services and information to our citizens and customers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week".
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Candice Jones
Quelle/Source: ITWeb, 12.01.2010
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