The ICT sector has welcomed a new load-shedding schedule for Johannesburg.
Eskom and City Power jointly drew up the schedule, which can also be found on the City Power Web site.
Eskom says on its Web site that the power-cut schedule has been created to treat all customers equally, ensure more certainty about when the power will be out, as well as to minimise traffic disruptions. The plan is to be reviewed on a monthly basis.
Eskom spokesmen could not be reached at the time of publication to determine when similar schedules for the rest of the country would become available.
Adrian Schofield, manager of the applied research unit at the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), says the new roster is a step in the right direction, although the duration of power outages is a matter of concern.
Schofield heads a joint initiative of the JCSE, the Information Technology Association, the Computer Society of South Africa, Eskom, and industry players to facilitate better communication around the lingering power crisis.
According to the new programme, the city has been divided into eight blocks that will be load-shed for four hours at a time, when necessary. Under the new structure, any given block will not suffer blackouts more than twice a week.
"People who have been advised to switch over to using laptops won't have battery power for four hours, although at least now they can plan ahead to move to an area that does have power," says Schofield.
Referring to the ongoing talks with Eskom, regarding its communication strategy, Schofield says: "The report on our talks with Eskom is still being finalised, but we will be looking specifically at how to communicate information on power savings, both to businesses and individuals."
He adds that industry and Eskom hope to have a project plan in place as early as next week.
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