Local infrastructure provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has set aside R72 million of its R3.5 billion budget for the deployment of open access dark fibre across SA, for the Eastern Cape.
DFA says it is in the process of laying over 100km of fibre in the province, with Mthata and East London being two of the main cities the infrastructure will service.
The latest deployment forms part of the company's R3.5 billion project that it says will help launch the country “into the digital age”.
DFA started rolling out its network in metropolitan areas in October 2007 and has already laid in excess of 5 000km of infrastructure, which is open to all licensed players - such as SA's main operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, and Internet service provider MWeb.
Far-reaching footprint
DFA's national footprint links the company's fibre with three of Africa's primary subsea cables, namely Seacom and Eassy, in Mthunzini (KwaZulu-Natal), the West African Cable System, at Yzerfontein; and the SAT3 cable at Melkbosstrand, in the Western Cape.
DFA CEO Gustav Smit says the company's infrastructure enables SA's operators to provide access to many more communities, bringing significant investment into the areas it is deployed.
“The socio-economic benefits of fibre-optic networks are vast. Affordable broadband contributes to increased economic activity [and the] expansion of communications infrastructure brings about new business opportunities that are dependent on broadband like Internet service providers, Internet caf'es and banking services.”
Smit says open access broadband will also stimulate competition within the telecommunications market, ultimately reducing Internet costs. Productivity gains of broadband, he says, include enabling municipalities to provide electronic services, such as e-health and e-learning.
The latest deployment in the Eastern Cape follows several others DFA has embarked on during the year - including its R15 million investments in both George and the Western Cape, in February, and its R75 million investment in Johannesburg's East Rand city of Benoni.
Smit says the Mthata project will start on Friday (1 June), while the East London project, currently under way, is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.
Share