The Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN) will connect an additional 492 access sites across the province during the 2016/17 financial year.
This was revealed by finance MEC Barbara Creecy during the budget vote speech of the Gauteng Department of E-government. The department provides online and digitised services to improve access for citizens to government services.
Last year, Creecy said the broadband infrastructure project would connect 263 access sites across the province. To date, the GBN project has completed connectivity of 400 initial sites covering five developmental areas within the city region.
High-speed connectivity is a critical foundational infrastructure requirement for success of the Gauteng city region's modernisation agenda, she said.
Creecy stated: "During the 2016/17 financial year, we will connect additional sites. These include: 13 government to citizen (Thusong Centres and libraries); four government to business (eKasi labs and economic zones) and 283 government to government sites.
"These include connecting a further 100 schools, 43 health facilities, eight social development facilities, 37 local government clinics in the West Rand and 26 local government clinics in Sedibeng. This will bring the total to 892 sites connected across the region."
Connected citizens
The Gauteng provincial government began the implementation of the GBN project in 2014. The project forms part of the province's e-government strategy, which aims to ensure the modernisation of governance and the delivery of services in a digital age.
The initiative will also improve linkages and integration among city region governments and their departments.
Creecy added the GBN is on track and to date has a 1 500km core fibre-optic transmission network linking eight core nodes across the province.
In the current financial year, the GBN project has been allocated R325 million to achieve this target, said the MEC.
"As part of our converged communication strategy (voice, data, video), the department will be modernising aging telecommunication infrastructure to realise efficiencies and cost savings. We are looking at implementing a voice over data model and all telephone calls will be transmitted over our GBN data network. The cost of telephony throughout the province as well as interdepartmental communication will be significantly reduced," she explained.
In line with the Gauteng premier's State of the Province Address earlier this year, Creecy said the provincial government will continue to provide broadband access in the city region.
Creecy noted the three large metros have rolled out 2 252km of fibre-optic network to connect various government entities.
For example, the City of Johannesburg has deployed 1 150km of fibre, providing connectivity to 10 core sites for its smart city initiatives, like CCTV and WiFi hotspots for communities, as well as providing commercial broadband connectivity to the private sector and other municipal entities, she explained.
"To bridge the digital divide and to ensure ordinary citizens, who cannot afford private connectivity, have access to the Internet, the three metros have collectively connected 1 550 public WiFi hotspots," she stated.
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