The Northern Cape will have the fastest broadband speed in SA from June, with the arrival of a new 10Gbps cable, says Square Kilometre Array (SKA) SA project director Bernie Fanaroff.
He said the new cable will be implemented as part of SA's bid to host the SKA telescope, due to the telescope's large bandwidth requirements. Fanaroff spoke at the launch of the cyberlab and science lab, at Carnarvon High School, on Friday.
He says the SA National Research and Education Network provides low-cost broadband for universities in SA and was subcontracted to deal with the SKA bandwidth requirements.
“They work with Broadband Infraco and Neotel for our bandwidth,” he said, adding that international bandwidth has not yet been organised for the project.
“We have a temporary 10Mb cable in place, but the 10Gb will be implemented in June and that will be enough for the next few years.”
However, WWW Strategy MD Steven Ambrose says the capacity of this cable will have no general effect on broadband in SA, as its purpose is solely for the project.
“The only benefit is that it will possibly allow previously high-speed unconnected communities to have better broadband access.
Science town
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) says the SKA project is reaching out to schools in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape Province to boost science and mathematics teaching and learning.
The Carnarvon area will be used to host the SKA if SA wins the bid against Australia. It currently holds seven satellite dishes that are being used as an engineering prototype for the MeerKAT telescope, which is the precursor for the SKA, according to site characterisation manager Adrian Tiplady. The prototype is called KAT-7.
The SKA SA project says it has committed itself to helping build up educational resources in the area, forming partnerships with the private sector to support local schools and working closely with the Northern Cape Department of Education.
“The opening of the two new laboratories at a local high school is part of an ongoing process to create a climate where young people of nearby towns can engage with science and technology and explore the potential of the SKA project.”
A donation of R1 million from the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA was used to build and equip the computer laboratory at Carnarvon High, while software and training were obtained from Learn Things, Mindset and Microsoft.
The computer lab has 43 desktop computers, a laptop, an interactive white board and a printer, as well as an Internet connection.
Optic 1, which built the high voltage power cable and optical fibre cable from Carnarvon to the telescope site, donated R50 000, which secured new equipment for the science lab at Carnarvon High, as well as for laboratories at two nearby primary schools, said Pandor.
She added that the US embassy donated R50 000 for a reading room.
The SKA SA project also facilitated the employment of three qualified teachers for Carnarvon High School, to teach maths, science and IT, said the minister.
SKA benefits
Pandor said the opening of these labs signifies some of the early benefits of the bid to host the SKA. “The South African SKA initiative has already provided more than 270 science and engineering bursaries from undergraduate to postdoctoral level.”
Pandor added that some of the benefits that come with the SKA project are training and development for learners and teachers, local economic development, infrastructure development, and opportunities to enhance SA's capacity to innovate.
She urged the audience to use Facebook and Twitter to create awareness around the project.
Super power
The final decision regarding the successful host country for the SKA telescope is expected in 2012, with work due to start in 2013. Operations will start in 2015, provided a significant portion of the array has been commissioned.
The SKA is a mega telescope, about 100 times more sensitive than the biggest existing radio telescope.
Tiplady says the largest existing telescope in the world is 300 metres in diameter and is too large to move. He says the MeerKAT will be made up of 64 dishes and the SKA of 3 000 smaller dishes, to overcome this problem.
“All the signals of the different dishes will come together in one supercomputer. The MeerKAT will have the most powerful supercomputer in the world and the SKA one will be about 100 times more powerful than that.”
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