The Western Cape's R4 billion broadband project is quickly moving ahead, with several sites already connected - not even a year after it kicked off. This comes as SA's financial capital, Gauteng, still has almost four years to go before its network is ready for handover.
During her annual address on Friday, Western Cape premier Helen Zille noted, by next July, the province will have connected 1 250 schools, 300 health facilities and 220 libraries. She added that surveys at 460 sites have been completed as part of the region's plan to provide connectivity to about 2 000 government sites through its partnership with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and Neotel.
Phase one will see these sites connected at 10Mbps speeds per site, to later be upgraded to 100Mbps, 1Gbps and some to 10Gbps, over a period of about three years. Neotel CEO Sunil Joshi has said the roughly 16 000km network will consist of a combination of existing and new infrastructure. The entire 10-year project has a budget of R4 billion, according to SITA.
Slow start
By comparison, Gauteng's broadband project - which is running about six months ahead of schedule - will only have connected six core sites by the end of this financial year, MEC Barbara Creecy said last July.
The tender for the Gauteng Broadband Network project, which had been on the cards for several years, was finally awarded last February, to Altech subsidiary Altech Alcom Matomo. The R1.2 billion deal will see the company implement the project over a five-year period.
Gauteng's network will incorporate 1 600km of high-speed fibre-optics and will consist of an initial eight core locations, no greater than 80km from the next core location, which will be connected by a 10GB "protection ring". The project is set to connect all provincial government buildings, including regional satellite offices, all Thusong centres (multi-purpose community centres), hospitals and schools.
Previously called G-Link and before that the Blue Umbrella project, the project has been on government's to-do list since 2008, but stalled over recent years. It ultimately aims to provide network coverage to 95% of Gauteng's population.
Connected schools race
Gauteng's broadband network also forms the core of its smart schools project, which entered its pilot phase last month when the Department of Education launched the paperless plan at five schools as part of a R2 billion multi-year endeavour.
In the Western Cape, the province has set aside nearly R730 million over the next three years to establish ICT infrastructure and e-learning in schools. Zille notes the province will install local access networks in 610 schools in the next five years, and 3 350 classrooms, across 248 schools, will benefit from its smart classroom project in the next five years. This year, R53 million will be spent to convert 1 583 classrooms to smart classrooms, she announced.
All planned out
Ovum analyst Richard Hurst says the Western Cape is ahead of Gauteng when it comes to providing key connectivity, which shows it understands the importance of ICT and is adhering to clearly-defined goals and plans.
Gauteng's project, conversely, has been marred by a stop and start process and has been amended several times, without seeming to get anywhere, comments Hurst. He says Gauteng, as the country's financial hub, should be moving faster than it seemingly is.
BMI-TechKnowledge director Tim Parle notes the Western Cape's project has been developed over about five years and is part of a co-ordinated, well thought out plan. Although it was previously delayed, it is now moving ahead apace, he adds.
Zille notes "we are at last making significant strides in our broadband strategy despite a delay of nearly two years due to unnecessary national compliance requirements enforced through SITA. However, I must say that, over the past year, SITA has worked hard to add value to the project."
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