Sentech is using its VSAT satellite technology to drive corporate social investment (CSI) projects around the country including the Siyabonga Multi Centre in Orange Farm.
Pranill Ramchander, Sentech's Portfolio Manager: Corporate Communications, says VSAT technology is a practical way in which Sentech can make a real difference in projects like the Siyabonga Multi Centre.
"Empowering previously disadvantaged communities is at the heart of Sentech's CSI vision. Sentech provided Internet connectivity to the centre and trained staff to use the software and to extend these skills into the community," he says.
Siyabonga is a fully-fledged skills development training centre capable of imparting relevant and functional outcomes based training for potential entrepreneurs in the community. The centre provides telecommunications services as well as training and support in business development and access to job training and placement.
With our VSAT satellite solution, Siyabonga receives free Internet access enabling it and the members of the community to communicate and use the Internet as a research tool, Ramchander says.
"In addition, Sentech is assisting the Multi Centre in becoming a sustainable enterprise, providing expertise for the drawing up of business plans and the development of management and marketing skills."
Sentech's CSI programme also uses VSATs in school projects. These include the Nepad e-schools project which spans across South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Gabon and Mali.
"Furthermore, Sentech sponsors the VSAT solution and server at the Myeka High School in the remote village Maphephetheni in the Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal. The amazing thing about the school is that it has no electricity supply. The VSAT network is used on a daily basis by learners and also serves as a research facility for teaching staff. Sentech also provided a server allowing the school to receive education information on a scheduled basis.
"In conjunction with the Learning Channel Campus, educational resources are downloaded to the school's computer centre using satellite technology independent of the need for a traditional land-based communications infrastructure, which in any case does not extend to a school in the most rural areas. Sentech's satellite technology allows rural South Africa to be connected to the latest state of the art networks and technologies. Thus aiding in bridging the digital divide that synonymous with Africa and many developing countries," he says.
Ramchander concludes: "VSAT technology's ubiquitous coverage and reach across the country is therefore an ideal way to empower communities, providing them with Internet connectivity and access to a world of information they would never had access to previously."
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