Sentech seeks WiMax partners

Johannesburg, 26 Oct 2006

State-owned diversified technology company Sentech has issued an invitation for the supply, installation and maintenance of WiMax solutions.

"We plan to use WiMax access to go to the end-customer - and by doing so we plan to provide cheaper access to wireless telecoms," says Gift Zowa, head of telecommunications technology at Sentech.

"Sentech has a requirement for wireless broadband access equipment which specifically complies with the [WiMax] IEEE 802.16 standard to provide managed access services for both fixed (802.16d) and mobile (802.16e) applications," reads the tender document.

So far, about 30 companies have expressed an interest in the invitation, notes Zowa, and the closing date for tender submissions is 15 November. Sentech will announce the results on 21 December.

The roll-out phase, he adds, will commence once Sentech has received the necessary funding for the project, from its shareholder - the government.

"We're going to be requiring a lot of money," he says. However, neither Zowa nor company acting COO Frans Lindeque could put a number to the expected cost.

The number of base stations required for a particular area will be dependent on the quotation, and the specific technology to be used, explains Zowa.

The requirements include guaranteeing services and maintenance support for five years after installation, after which the successful company will issue a new maintenance quotation.

The equipment, adds the tender document, "will operate in a point to multi-point configuration and will offer services of capacities configurable up to 2Mbps and above".