JBNP hits a wall

Johannesburg, 26 Nov 2007

The R500 million Joburg Broadband Network Project (JBNP) may have fallen off the rails, following the departure of project manager Douglas Cohen.

Cohen aggressively drove the project since its inception in February, as the city aimed to move towards a "smart city" concept. Since his departure, last month, the project seems to have ground to a halt, as none of the deadlines had been met.

City of Joburg media liaison Virgil James this morning said "there is nothing tangible to report".

"All the paperwork has been done and the city has had workshops with all the bidders. We are heading into the test network phase."

However, work on the establishment of demonstration networks was initially scheduled to begin in April, following an enthusiastic response from industry - 25 companies submitted proposals during the early stages of the project.

Eleven companies have since made the short-list to participate in the testing phase of the project. They are: Altech, Dimension Data, Ericsson, Goal Technology Solutions, MTN, MWeb/Tellumat, Neology, Telkom, Transtel, Sentech and Vodacom.

Whereas work on the demonstration networks was supposed to begin in May, the project suffered numerous delays. At that stage, Cohen would not be drawn on reasons for the hold-ups, but indicated politics could have been a reason for the project not taking off.

Fighting the system

"I was basically fighting the machine, I got really tired. I was not getting the support I needed and it was affecting my personal life," he said at the time of his departure.

The short-listed bidders say they are "in the dark" concerning the JBNP`s progress, and have also been bound by non-disclosure agreements.

Meanwhile, James says "it is the Christmas season and we will be working behind the scenes. We will have more information in the new year."

It is not known what new deadlines have been set for the project and it is also not known whether a completion date has been identified.

The JBNP was planned to exploit a mix of telecommunication technology, as the city owns several diverse platforms and infrastructure, as well as a private telecoms network licence.

At the onset, Cohen said the city is considering setting up a special purpose vehicle to facilitate ownership of the network. He explained the JBNP would aim to bring down telecoms costs and improve service delivery in diverse areas, ranging from traffic control to library services.