Infraco ready to deliver

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 08 Feb 2008

State-owned national broadband provider Infraco says its national backhaul infrastructure is in place, paving the way for Telkom's broadband monopoly to come to an end.

This morning, Infraco CEO Dave Smith said the Infraco network is "ready for use".

"Our fibre-optic cable infrastructure across the country is ready for launch," said Smith. "Our mandate is to provide national long-distance broadband connectivity and we are ready to do this as soon as we receive a licence."

Smith's comments come hot on the heels of President Thabo Mbeki's proclamation of both the Electronic Communications Act and the Infraco Broadband Act into law as of the beginning of this year.

The laws allow for the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to license a public entity, such as Infraco, which has the strategic aim of lowering telecommunications costs in SA.

ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela this morning said while the regulator now has the authority to license Infraco, "We are still engaging stakeholders to clarify matters."

Sekgoela said he could not provide a timeline for when the licence is expected to come through.

For his part, Smith said he is not sure about a timeline either, but anticipates it will still be within this year. "I am confident that everything is progressing as it should."

Until then though, he said the company can offer no services.

"The nature of the licence will determine the nature of any additional product offerings and whether it will expand beyond our current mandate," said Smith.

Lowering costs

Infraco has signed a four-year exclusivity deal with SA's second network operator, Neotel, to provide it with broadband services.

Neotel MD Ajay Pandey said this week that Neotel is to roll out consumer services in the next 100 days. However, he would not provide a specific launch date. Neotel has previously said consumer services would be phased, initially focusing on major metro areas.

Neotel did, however, this week announce its enterprise tariffs, which came in below current Telkom rates.

Infraco was originally launched by public enterprises minister Alec Erwin, who announced the establishment of the company in 2006.

In November, Erwin addressed the National Council of Provinces, saying the high cost of broadband was hampering SA's role as a global player in the ICT sector.

*Additional reporting by Damaria Senne