Plans to lay a R400 million fibre optic network for the City of Cape Town are ticking along steadily.
Negotiations are under way for the city to buy parts of networks laid by telecommunications operators Telkom and Neotel.
City of Cape Town CIO Andre Stelzner says the negotiations are proceeding, with the main objective being the reduction in the digging up of public roads and pavements in laying these cables.
“Over the past couple of years, we have seen quite a lot of activity as telecommunications companies have laid a lot of ducting for their fibre-optic cables. What we want to do is reduce this disruption and allow telecoms operators to then lay their cables through the ducting that we own,” he says.
Stelzner says he expects the negotiations, including the settling of the prices to be paid, to be completed within a month.
The second phase of the project is to meet the city's 2010 Soccer World Cup commitments. This includes the laying of fibre-optic cabling around fan sites and areas that will be the most frequented by tourists during the period.
This cabling will be mainly oriented for security purposes, such as the facilitation of close circuit TV systems to monitor crowd behaviour and reduce incidences of crime.
The last phase of the entire project will be to connect the hundreds of municipal-owned buildings, to improve service delivery and ensure the city's IT systems are connected at the lowest rate.
Stelzner says the total budgeted cost of R400 million, which was originally set almost two years ago, still looks like a viable estimate.
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