Parktown North has become the latest suburb where residents are working together to have an ultra-high-speed fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network installed in their community.
The Parktown North Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association will work with Vumatel, the same company that is deploying FTTH in neighbouring Parkhurst, for the open-access fibre project.
The company will also provide public Wi-Fi access at shopping centres in the neighbourhood. Residents will be able to access this Wi-Fi using their home broadband account details.
The Vumatel proposal includes a once-off installation fee of R1 500 per home and, as in Parkhurst, free line rental for the most basic line speed of 4Mbit/s. It has also agreed to attend to critical faults within 12 hours, to serious faults within 18 hours and to minor faults within 24 hours.
Vumatel has identified 35 Johannesburg neighbourhoods for its fibre installation. Construction in Parktown North will begin in January.
Residents’ association chair Lee-Ann Louverdis says in a statement that “the benefits of transparency in pricing, increased competition and greater consumer choice far outweigh the temporary disruption of civil works during the construction phase”.
“The community will enjoy the benefits arising from greater choice and competitive Internet service provider offerings — both of which will undoubtedly improve the desirability of living in Parktown North. This bodes well for real estate values in our suburb.” — © 2014 NewsCentral Media