Conduct Telecommunications, a “last-mile” fibre-optic telecommunications operator owned by the Birchman Group, plans to extend its high-speed access network to more suburbs in Johannesburg in the next few months, including to Rosebank, Chislehurston and Rivonia.
The company, which has raised funding from the Industrial Development Corp, recently completed the roll-out of fibre to parts of Illovo’s business district, where it is offering access through five service provider partners, with more to follow.
Conduct provides last-mile access to fibre on a wholesale, open-access basis, meaning it provides the links to third-party Internet service providers that then “light” and sell capacity on the connections.
The company’s MD, Johan Pretorius, says seven new areas in Johannesburg have been identified for fibre deployment by the middle of this year.
“Market acceptance has allowed us to speed up the roll-out of our next wave of last-mile areas,” Pretorius says. “Construction is already underway in Chislehurston, with installations in Rivonia and Rosebank to follow.”
He says a further four areas are planned for construction in May and says they will be named “shortly”.
Pretorius told TechCentral in March that Conduct planned to trench fibre to 60 zones across Gauteng and the Western Cape by the end of the year and to accelerate its investments further into 2013. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media