Shilowa explains 'G Link`

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 06 May 2008

Gauteng`s broadband project, variously known as Gauteng Link (G Link) or Blue Umbrella, is not a R35 billion attempt to reinvent the wheel, says premier Mbhazima Shilowa. Rather, it is a measured move to integrate existing private and public networks to the benefit of all.

Shilowa says the scheme, now to be implemented by the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) as part of a wider e-government campaign, is about integration.

"It is less about the money, it is less about the financing," Shilowa told journalists at a report-back on a extended executive council lekgotla attended by all his MECs, as well as the mayors of all Gauteng municipalities and senior bureaucrats.

"Nothing is holding up G Link. It is a complicated process. Everyone has broadband. The problem is not the provision of broadband, it is how do we ensure it is integrated, how do we ensure it is used for the improvement of services that we require, how do we use it to ensure currently under-serviced areas are reached."

The Financial Mail recently quoted Gauteng`s head of e-government, Warren Hero, as saying "rudimentary estimates show the cost of the project could be anything from R15 billion to R35 billion". The journal noted the scale of the project was "enormous" and would see Gauteng spend more "than Telkom rival Neotel will spend in the next decade on its national network deployment".

However, it was likely the National Treasury would veto such spending in the same way it nixed the spending plans of Sentech and Broadband Infraco.

Simple plan

But Shilowa says G Link is nothing this lavish. "Everyone wants to improve this issue of broadband and everyone has plans. Telkom has plans that they are now rolling out, so is Eskom, so is Vodacom, so is Neotel, so is MTN. Then there is Gauteng online and the municipalities.

"Without halting all these plans, how do you reach a point where you say everything that is going on now, let it continue, but from this point out, what we call in IT-language 'convergence` begins to happen and we are able to move forward together. We need to be able to find each other."

He adds that Gauteng - as the economic powerhouse of Africa - needs an integrated broadband strategy that the business community could buy into rather than "the haphazard implementation we have now".

"I think it is a complete waste of energy, of resources, of duplication..." Gauteng`s top citizen says.

Taking strain?

Shilowa also scotched reports of tensions between local government and the province on broadband.

Many municipalities, such as Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Tshwane, had invested substantially in local broadband and wanted to make this available to residents in order to open up a new source of income.

Most local governments presently derive the bulk of their income from electricity supply and this is to be taken from them in the near future when the regional electricity distribution system is established.

"There is no fight between us and municipalities [on this issue]. There are occasional spats between province and local government, but in general in this province we work very well with all the municipalities," Shilowa says.

Getting physical

However, G Link is not only about strategy, it will also physically manifest. A pilot phase will shortly start in Tshwane in conjunction with that municipality. It will include the roll-out of Gauteng online and linking the city`s broadband network to the province using the Gautrain as backhaul.

"We have taken a decision to pilot with Tshwane on G Link... Together with Bombela [the Gautrain`s builder] and broader G Link people, we are going to be looking at, as we lay the pipes and infrastructure for the Gautrain, how do we use that as well as for broadband infrastructure."

G Link is to be similar to the Gauteng Auto Cluster, a public-private-partnership involving the province and the vehicle manufacturing industry. The provincial development business Blue IQ will remain responsible for strategy and the GSSC "becomes the implementing agency".