Telkom has the infrastructure and expertise in radio technology to elevate southern Africa as the most advanced region for multi-wavelength astronomy in the world, according to Reuben September, Telkom`s Chief Technical Officer.
Telkom`s network has in-built protection to provide resilience and optic fibre nodes in close proximity to the proposed sites for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Northern Cape, September told the International SKA Committee delegates in Cape Town today.
The committee is in SA to evaluate the country`s bid to attract the location of the SKA, a $1 billion new generation telescope, which would be located in either Namaqualand near Nababeep, the Kalahari outside Upington, or Prieska in the Karoo.
``Telkom is willing and committed to participation in the SKA project. Telkom looks forward in assisting in the bidding committee process, especially the identification of suitable remote zones, and the development of methods to establish and maintain radio zones around the SKA sites,`` September said.
He added that the project would create ``realistic and global`` business opportunities for the South African construction, defence, software, communication, electronics and steel industries.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) are at the forefront of government`s efforts to bring the telescope to southern Africa. The region is already a hub for the observation of stars, galaxies and the universe, as both the Southern Africa Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland, Northern Cape, and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) in Namibia, give the area an astronomical edge in world terms.
An international consortium, including SA and Namibia, will build the SKA. It will involve advanced capacity building in telecommunications, imaging technology, receiver technology, high-speed computing, antennae engineering, space physics and advanced computation.
September said Telkom was confident it had the capability to provide suitable telecommunication infrastructure for the SKA project.
Telkom`s optic fibre network penetrates much of SA`s rural areas, and has an international connectivity capability by means of two undersea optic fibre cables, namely the SAT3/WASC/SAFE (Afrolique) that connects SA and a number of African countries to Europe via Portugal and the East via Reunion, Mauritius, India and Malaysia. These cables have the capacity to carry gigabits of data.
September said Telkom was adopting an evolutionary approach towards a next-generation network, which would maximise existing infrastructure investments.
Telkom`s 15 Centres of Excellence, in partnership with SA`s tertiary education institutions and industry partners, were also focused on research and development in the field of communications, which could be leveraged to support the SKA project.
``Communications is a key element in the growth of the country. As such, Telkom is committed to participate in a meaningful and responsible manner with all parties to ensure mutual benefit,`` September said.
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