IBC to rake in millions

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 22 Apr 2008

The City of Johannesburg plans to invest R120 million to upgrade the Nasrec precinct to construct the international broadcast centre (IBC).

The facility will provide essential telecommunications and broadcasting facilities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The city expects the communications hub to have a big impact on the economy of the city and the province, adding at least R513.7 million in revenue to Gauteng's gross domestic product.

Speaking yesterday at an event to officially announce that Johannesburg had won the IBC bid, Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Masondo said the IBC will generate R340.9 million in direct spend by visitors. The rest of the funds will come indirectly from broadcasters and media representatives visiting the city, he noted.

The IBC will also create an estimated 3 370 jobs, with a salary bill that will add up to R219 million by the end of the event, he said.

"When we look at the projected spend by the media contingent, we deduce from the existing figure that business tourists to SA spend on average R2 002 per day," he said.

Johannesburg expects to attract thousands of journalists, sports commentators and technical crew to the IBC, he said.

In Germany, there were over 13 400 accredited TV commentators, camera crews and members of technical staff reporting on the event, said Masondo. SA expects to attract a similar number of broadcasters to cover the 2010 event.

City officials noted the 2008 FIFA member countries are expected to send media representatives to the 2010 games.

Nerve centre

Masondo said the city will use part of the R120 million investment to rent and upgrade halls and facilities from the Johannesburg Expo Centre, based at the Nasrec precinct, to create the IBC.

This investment will result in the creation of the nerve centre of the 2010 games, linking the 10 stadiums with telecoms and satellite infrastructure, to allow broadcasters to transmit the games to over 30 billion viewers around the world, said Johannesburg Expo Centre chairman Andrew Mthembu.

The IBC will have 40GB of transmission capacity, he said. "And, despite load-shedding, there will be adequate electricity this side."

Sentech previously noted it would invest R300 million in satellite facilities linking the 10 designated stadiums to the IBC. Part of the investment will be used to build a second teleport, said Frans Lindeque, Sentech's executive for digital systems.

Project managers expect part of the IBC to be ready for the Confederate Cup, in June 2009, with the fully-kitted structure ready for handover by November 2009.

After the game

The city noted the IBC would be used as legacy infrastructure. Interested companies that would like to leverage the fibre-optic cable and satellite facilities to create a media and contact centre have already approached the city, Mthembu said.

The IBC should be further developed as a regional hub, connecting SA to the rest of the world, said deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie.

Ideally, he said, global broadcasters will rent space at the IBC, using the facility as their regional bureau.

National government would support the city in the regional media hub initiative, he said. However, as yet there are no further details as to what this support would entail.

Masondo noted that Johannesburg is already the primary broadcasting hub for international and local TV and radio. It is also home to 60% of all ICT enterprises in SA, he said.