Seacom and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim to support local youth- and women-owned ICT SMMEs.
Under the agreement, the subsea cable operator says SMMEs will be assisted in IP transit, direct internet access, national private lines, colocations and cloud services.
Wandile Gumede, Seacom sales lead for the public sector, says: “To aid our government in realising a truly digital South Africa with full digital inclusion of all South Africans, initiatives such as this are instrumental.
“The support from Seacom and the CSIR aims to set up our local SMMEs for success – and even to become future internet service providers.”
In addition to supporting SMMEs, Seacom is working with the CSIR, the SA United Nations Development Programme and AdNotes to provide low-cost internet access to rural communities across SA.
The CSIR’s TV whitespace spectrum technology will be made available to support the 13 selected youth- and women-owned SMME network operators to deploy broadband network infrastructure to communities in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
As part of the initiative, Olwandle High School has been provided with a computer lab, which will help learners become more tech-savvy and improve their digital literacy.
Lucky Lehlohonolo Mantsho, principal of Olwandle High School, states: "The computer lab has opened up a new world of learning opportunities for our students.
“Access to the internet has made a huge difference in their ability to access educational resources and develop their digital skills, which are becoming increasingly important in the modern world.”
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