The Royal Bafokeng Nation is joining Tshwane, the City of Cape Town, the City of Johannesburg and other municipalities that plan to roll-out wireless network infrastructure that will eventually enable free telephony and cheap Internet access for citizens.
The Royal Bafokeng Administration (RBA) has established a R23 million ICT project that will extend its wireless infrastructure and connect a number of its municipal facilities to the Web. RBA is the administration arm of the North-West community, outside Rustenburg.
The official launch will be held on 20 April at the Bafokeng Civic Centre, in Phokeng, says Rabelani Dagada, manager of RBA's ICT and knowledge management division.
Projects under way include replacing the wireless network infrastructure, introducing voice over Internet Protocol services to the community and setting up seven multi-purpose community centres (MPCCs) and an ICT institute, he says.
The enterprise resource planning and document management system projects have already commenced, while the rest of the projects are out to tender, he says.
"Like Cape Town, Tshwane and eThekwini metros, we envisage a future where residents in Phokeng will enjoy cheap telephony and Internet access," he says.
Funding
Dagada says most of the projects are funded directly by the RBA. However, Bafokeng acquired a 55% stake in MB Technologies and, as a result, the company has offered it a once-off R2 million investment in the ICT institute.
The ICT institute will consist of a training centre, a call centre facility and an open source laboratory, he notes.
MB Technologies is also funding the R4.5 million MPCC project. "Our thinking is that existing buildings in Phokeng should be utilised for the centres."
A section 21 company may be set up to operate the network on behalf of Bafokeng, Dagada adds.
Getting connected
Dagada says the RBA has five sites, covering 70% of Phokeng, which extends over 1 400 square kilometres and has 300 000 citizens. "It is on this premise that we need a service provider who will enable us to increase the capacity of our wireless network infrastructure to 100% coverage."
He adds that all the schools in Phokeng will be networked to this infrastructure. The 75 dikgosana, who assist the king in the governance of the community, and 11 councillors, will also be provided with networked computers and telephones, he says.
Dagada notes voice over Internet Protocol is expected to enable the RBA to make free phone calls among its administration offices, as well as all Bafokeng schools, multipurpose centres and the office of Royal Bafokeng holdings, in Johannesburg.
It may also be necessary to build base stations around Phokeng to enable schools, MPCCs, business and residents to make free local calls, he says.
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