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Telkom's broadband appointment in contention

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 24 Nov 2015
President Jacob Zuma continues to face criticism over the appointment of Telkom as the lead agency for broadband rollout.
President Jacob Zuma continues to face criticism over the appointment of Telkom as the lead agency for broadband rollout.

Members of Parliament are still unsatisfied with the appointment of fixed-line operator, Telkom, to roll out the country's ambitious broadband plan.

The Business Report newspaper today reports president Jacob Zuma came under fire for his move to appoint Telkom to be the lead agency in the deployment of broadband infrastructure without putting the process to tender.

During his address in the National Assembly, Zuma confirmed Telkom would take the lead in the deployment of broadband infrastructure, reports the newspaper.

However, the Democratic Alliance's Marian Shinn criticised the president's decision to appoint Telkom without a tender process, noting many companies would have bid for the tender.

Tender it

During his State of the Nation Address, Zuma announced state-owned enterprise Telkom had been chosen as the major player in providing broadband in the country.

According to Zuma, Telkom's task includes a broadband project that will see eight district municipalities across all provinces - apart from Gauteng and the Western Cape, which already have broadband networks.

Government has set out plans for the provision of 100% broadband to all South African citizens by 2020, and e-services by 2019.

Zuma's decision was widely criticised for trying to create a monopoly by shutting out other companies.

However, Zuma says Telkom understands the nature of connecting rural communities and the demands of the country better than any company in the ICT sector, according to Business Report.

One of two choices

Earlier this year, Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services minister Siyabonga Cwele said government is happy with Telkom on the basis of its extensive fibre network.

Cwele added government's decision to select Telkom was also informed by the telco's infrastructure.

"It became quite clear that we have about 170 000km of cable - that is what people have declared openly up to now, but we believe it is more - 86% of that fibre belongs to Telkom, that is the reality," Cwele said.

IDC senior research manager George Kalebaila says the choice as to who was going to spearhead the government's national broadband plan was just between Broadband Infraco and Telkom.

Between the two, Telkom was better placed since it already has an extensive network and also the expertise of rolling out and operating such a network, he says.

"There were some expectations within industry to open the tender to other players as well. But in my view, Telkom has experience to roll out networks at such scale and was no doubt the front runner to better execute.

"The bigger issue was not about the tender process but rather the delay in announcing who was going to lead the plan.

"Government's decision was necessary to provide direction so that the process could progress," he says.

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