Neotel is looking for a “sustainable” way to bring fibre access to SA users’ homes.

The company’s chief technology officer, Angus Hay, says that at the moment, building fibre into homes is an expensive exercise, costing anywhere between R15 000 and R20 000 per residence.

“We are actively looking for a way to do this. It may be a wholesale model and it may be retail model. We just don’t know yet,” he says.

However, he says Neotel will stick to its long-term plan to take fibre to homes and has already started deploying fibre cables to gated communities and office parks.

“Its not a question of if, but of how soon we can find a business model that will make it a feasible option for us,” he says.

According to Hay, the company is considering partnerships in the content space and with other telecommunications providers to make fibre to the home a reality.

Neotel has been talking about the possibility of bringing fibre access to homes for several years.

In March, it is stepped up its expansion programme, deploying fibre to 300 buildings, including shopping centres and office blocks at a cost of between R150m and R200m.

At the same time, the company announced that it plans to expand its Johannesburg data centre because of soaring demand from the corporate sector.

The first phase of the Midrand facility, consisting of about 1 000sq m, is already sold out. — Candice Jones, TechCentral