Neotel in the 2010 game

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 20 Jul 2007

ICT providers, and Neotel in particular, have not been sidelined in the awarding of multimillion-rand contracts to provide technology services for the 2010 World Cup, says the Department of Communications.

It says second national operator Neotel is now a member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Committee, which is involved in the overall planning of the event.

Communications department spokesman Albi Modise could not elaborate on the role Neotel will play in providing technology services for the games. He says the second national operator's role has yet to be clarified by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Committee.

However, Telkom has already bagged the major contract to provide connectivity, while Sentech will provide wireless redundancy services to meet FIFA guarantees.

Government is expected to spend up to R5 billion on technology infrastructure for the 2010 World Cup. However, it has not yet finalised the budget nor communicated how much the contracts awarded to Telkom and Sentech are worth.

Addressing falsehoods

The Department of Communications insists there was nothing untoward about the awarding of these multimillion-rand contracts to Telkom and Sentech.

"Contrary to ill-informed and mischievous media reports, the Department of Communications would like to dispel the misconception that Telkom, SABC and Sentech have been granted exclusive contracts to provide for the ICT and broadcasting requirements for the FIFA World Cup."

The department explains Telkom was appointed on the basis that it was the only fixed-line operator at the time the issue was decided.

Modise says the ICT infrastructure requirements for the 2010 World Cup were determined by FIFA during the bidding process that culminated in FIFA awarding SA the rights to host the event.

"Following the bidding process, FIFA ultimately contracted the current service providers for its ICT requirements, based on existing tried and tested infrastructure these organisations had during the bidding process," the department says in a media statement.

Communications deputy director general Rosey Sekese previously said the ICT industry would have the opportunity to provide technology services that are outside the redundancy requirements. These include connectivity for fan parks, hotels, and other action areas outside the stadiums.