Neotel hopes to start laying fibre optic cables in residential areas by November. The second network operator is concluding negotiations with various stakeholders in the next couple of weeks.
"The request for proposals that we will be issuing should be out in the next few weeks," says Neotel senior OSP manager Imran Abbas.
Abbas says the company is speaking to specific communities and hopes to start laying fibre optic cables in the next three months, which forms part of Neotel's mid-term plans. The network operator recently began laying cables in the metropolitans of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Tshwane.
Abbas says Neotel is now looking at going into residential communities, but would not give specific details on which communities they are looking at. "All of our plans will for now remain in our focus areas, which are the four metros where fibre optic cables are being laid," he says.
BMI-TechKnowledge research director Brian Neilson says management structures in residential communities such Parkmore and Sandton have already started investigating options to run their own services. "This would include the option of IPTV services from a third-party pay TV player, along with closed circuit TV for security cameras."
Neilson says Neotel will probably focus on providing connections to businesses and later on private households.
Abbas adds that residential communities will have the opportunity to make suggestions with regards to the requests for proposals and the details that Neotel looks for in potential areas.
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