Local open access dark fibre infrastructure provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has reached a milestone of rolling out more than 5 000km of fibre infrastructure over the past four years.
CEO Gustav Smit says DFA now employs more than 200 permanent staff and in excess of 6 000 people through its business partners. “DFA is playing an important role of empowering communities through its business partners; they are required to use local labour from within the communities they are constructing in.
“Besides the labour benefits, we also provide the infrastructure that enables licensed operators like Vodacom, MTN and Cell C to give communities access to the network. Our footprint extends nationally and links with the Seacom and the Eassy cables at Mthunzini, in KwaZulu-Natal, and links to the WACS cable at Yzerfontein and the SAT-3 cable at Melkbosstrand, in the Western Cape,” he explains.
Long haul infrastructure accounts for approximately 20% of the infrastructure, while SA's highest-density metropolitan areas account for the balance. Gauteng metropolitan already boasts more than 1 800km of open fibre network, while Cape Town follows with approximately 800km, and Durban and Pretoria each with more than 600km. DFA plans to roll-out another 700km in secondary cities and towns before the end of 2012, according to the company.
Smit says the infrastructure is available and it is now up to the Internet service providers (ISPs) to get fibre-based Internet connectivity to communities. “ISPs should be proactive in getting fibre rolled out to businesses and homes within SA. There is fibre in virtually every street in Sandton; you can fibre up every building there but there has been little momentum from the ISP side.”
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