In its drive to become a smart city, the City of Tshwane will implement a wireless broadband solution by the middle of this year.
The city has released a tender calling for telecommunications companies interested in deploying and operating a wireless network in the municipality. In an effort to be awarded smart city status by the end of 2009, the tender will be awarded in April, with deployment of the network scheduled to start in May.
The city says it would only act as a facilitator in the use of its fibre-optic infrastructure for the development of a “high-speed open access broadband wireless infrastructure that will provide the businesses and households with affordable access”.
Currently, the city operates a fibre-optic network covering 2 400 square kilometres, which connects council buildings and electrical substations.
The city states it wishes to appoint more than one company on three five-year contracts, to “design, develop, install and maintain the external WiFi network”. Each company selected will be allocated specific areas of operation which will be influenced by proposals submitted. The project will be rolled out in three phases.
For the future
According to the city, the network will help the city keep up with the rest of the world, saying ”in recent times broadband wireless standard such as 802.16 and 802.11, which define media access control protocol for metropolitan areas have become a commercial reality”.
Requirements set out for the proposed network include scalability, reliability, high-speed, provision for access to multiple-service providers, self-healing, flexibility, high efficiency, upgradeability and manageability.
The city states the winning bid should provide “high-quality coverage for all outdoor areas in the Tshwane area”. It should also provide the city with access to the wireless network free of operational charges, to allow it to incorporate future services such as CCTV camera applications, traffic monitoring, intelligent parking devices, Internet kiosks, intelligent street signage applications and real-time wireless information signs.
The city requires the network to be available on a 99% service level “with the exception of occasional planned outages required for maintaining or upgrading the network”. The network will also support Internet browsing applications such as Internet Explorer, Firewall, e-mail and VOIP.
The network must be secure and provide end-user authentication and tracking if required and users will be provided with access to a number of free services.
Related story:
Tshwane wants smart city status
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