The national fibre network partnership between Cell C, Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners is on track to complete its first phase by the end of next year.

Arif Hussain, CEO of FibreCo, says good progress being made on key activities supporting the development of the network. These include negotiations with local and international network implementation partners, governmental authorities and various other market players.

He says FibreCo has also been engaging with players in the education and research communities to see if there could be ways to help them use the system.

TechCentral broke the news late last year that the three companies had entered into a partnership to build the R5bn, 12 000km national network.

According to Hussain, the environmental impact studies have been completed for the initial routes and the tender process is moving ahead.

The initial phase of the project will be a 4 500km core ring linking Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban to international cable landing stations. This phase should be completed by the end of next year, he says.

FibreCo expects partial routes, including the Johannesburg to Cape Town link, to come on stream earlier, which will bring much-needed additional capacity between the two cities.

The cable is being built using an open-access model, which will allow other providers to use the infrastructure.

Cell C’s national wireless network will provide the platform for the co-location of optical transmission equipment at its base stations as well as wireless access solutions for FibreCo’s customers, says Hussain.

Internet Solutions will be responsible for value-added services to the enterprise markets and Convergence Partners will contribute its expertise in the developmental and financial spheres. — Staff reporter, TechCentral