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SABEN launches project to connect 50 colleges to national research and education network


Johannesburg, 22 Feb 2019

The South African Broadband Educational Networks (SABEN) recently invited interested ICT companies with proven experience in the field to help implement a government-funded roll-out of broadband access for students and staff at technical colleges across the country.

Requests for proposals (RFPs) to interested service providers were issued on 22 January (see www.saben.ac.za/connectivity-rfps/).

The goal is to establish access networks to the campuses of 50 technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in 12 geographical areas nationwide.

SABEN is seeking to provide comprehensive, high-speed connectivity to the South African National Research and Education Network (SANReN), furnishing students at these colleges with the information resources and educational support they require to study and graduate.

SABEN, which is a not-for-profit (NPO) enterprise established with the sole aim of addressing broadband poverty in the TVET sector, has already helped to connect students and staff at 16 colleges in over 80 campuses.

The current two-year project is being implemented by SABEN under the auspices of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), with a grant from the National Skills Fund (NSF).

In implementing the TVET Campus Connection Project (TCCP), SABEN will purchase last-mile connectivity and back-haul to selected points of presence (POPs).

The project is an infrastructural one, requiring capital expenditure to provide the connections. Subsequent monthly operational and maintenance costs will be paid by the TVETs. The bandwidth for the access is provided by SABEN's sister organisation, the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET).

In issuing the RFPs, SABEN made available bid packs listing the connectivity requirements, the sites to be connected and the terms of the required three-year service agreements. These also covered the criteria that suppliers needed to consider in producing their design and costing plans for the project, as well as examples of spreadsheets for pricing the proposed plans.

The packs further detailed the format for all bids, the procedure and criteria for evaluating them and the contractual terms. When the RFPs were issued, it was requested that the bids be submitted by 12 March. Questions and answers about the terms of the RFPs were posted on the SABEN Web site at www.saben.ac.za/connectivity-rfps-qa/.

SABEN engages directly with individual colleges to provide them with broadband access to the SANReN network, supporting its expansion as a platform for research, teaching and innovation.

The support offered by SABEN seeks to foster greater educational capacity within the TVET sector in support of the country's broader goals as a developmental state.

In order to promote the project, TVET principals are required to provide visionary, forward-looking leadership, understanding that the future impact of their institutions and the employability of their students in an economy shaped by a fourth industrial revolution depends on high-speed connectivity to, and the use of, the comprehensive information, research and educational resources offered by SANReN.

Chief financial officers and the IT managers of colleges are also crucial players in the process of engaging the TVETS in establishing and using the broadband services offered by SABEN.

The national context for the project, which seeks to support the establishment of a knowledge economy that fosters innovation, was recently affirmed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who prioritised the importance of developing the IT and higher education sectors.

SABEN, which was formed as a collaboration between TENET and the SANReN Competency Area (SCA) at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has adopted a competitive-RFP model to source suppliers of the access networks required to connect the TVET colleges. Potential suppliers connecting the colleges to the network are required to demonstrate a clear understanding of the terms and conditions of the RFPs.

For further information and details, please contact: rfp@saben.ac.za.

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Editorial contacts

Angela Mias
SABEN
angela@saben.ac.za