Telecommunications service provider UniNet has signed a R12 million, five-year deal with underserviced area licence holder (USAL) Ilizwa Telecommunications (ITel) to roll-out a broadband network in the Eastern Cape.
UniNet MD David Jarvis says the network will be similar to one installed in the Knysna municipal area, but this one could pose a greater challenge as it will initially operate in the OR Tambo district of the Eastern Cape - one of the poorest and most populous rural municipalities in the country.
The municipal district includes the towns of Umtata, Mqanduli, Llibode, Tsolo, Qumbu, Ngqeleni, Tabankulu, Port St Johns, Lusikisiki, Flagstaff and Bizana.
Andile Nontso, ITel director, says plans include the deployment of a wireless access network and to deliver fixed and mobile voice and data services throughout the district.
Nontso says USALs have had to contend with the high costs of rolling out infrastructure in these underserviced areas. UniNet has agreed to build the network at roughly a quarter of the cost of other WiMax or CDMA solutions available in SA, with similar coverage.
UniNet will jointly operate the network with ITel for an initial five-year contract period. A skills transfer programme will see UniNet first develop and manage the network for the contract period, with a view that ITel will take over the management entirely.
UniNet's Jarvis says the first R7 million of the funding for the network will come from ITel's Universal Services Fund allocation and UniNet will raise the remainder from commercial sources.
Jarvis says the network will have an initial 50Mbps backhaul that will be upgradeable using software to 200Mbps in the future.
He says the primary customers will be the local government agencies and the Eastern Cape Department of Health, which has been looking for a connectivity solution for its clinics.
The announcement comes at a time when many USALs are required to report their progress with infrastructure roll-out plans to the Universal Services Agency of SA during November.
ITel plans to secure local and provincial government business as the network is deployed across the region to service the rural and urban OR Tambo communities.
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