Infraco's board of directors is expected to be finalised within the next couple of days. However, shareholders refuse to confirm a senior Eskom manager and a former Vodacom executive will head the company.
Neither Eskom nor the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) would confirm market speculation that Eskom GM for telecommunications Dave Smith would be appointed as CEO. They would also not confirm that Andrew Mthembu, former Vodacom group deputy CEO - now ICT special advisor to the minister of public enterprises - would be chairman.
However, Smith's appointment appears to be quite likely, as the electricity utility will be a commissioning agent during the initial stages of the new R647 million bandwidth provider.
It is expected president Thabo Mbeki will outline government's bandwidth plan for SA during his State of the Nation address on Friday, the Department of Communications said last week.
Further details about Infraco's exact function and operations will be revealed during a briefing by the DPE, in Parliament, later this month, says DPE spokesperson Gaynor Kast.
A source close to Infraco says the company will be operational by the end of the 2006/7financial year, and its mandate will be to supply broadband connectivity exclusively to Neotel.
Eskom to withdraw
A Neotel spokesman confirms the operator is reliant on Infraco. "Readiness of the Infraco network is an integral part of the launch of Neotel's services."
Neotel MD Ajay Pandey previously indicated the company has agreements with the DPE to gain access to Eskom's intercity network at "commercial rates".
"There is also a plan for Infraco to provide enough bandwidth for 2010 and beyond," the source says, but refuses to be drawn on details of the plan.
The source also says Eskom will not make any investment in Infraco but will act as an agent, commissioning assets for government, until all necessary government processes are set up. This is expected before the end of this financial year. Subsequently, Eskom will disinvest from Infraco, as per government strategy for parastatals to withdraw from non-core assets.
Meanwhile, the source has rubbished speculation that Eskom's involvement with Infraco will centre on the provision of broadband over powerlines.
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All you need to know... about Infraco
R647m for Infraco
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