Vulacom

sand_man

sand_man

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Just received notification that Vulacom has been approved as the fibre supplier for Norwood.

Never heard of this company.

Anyone have anything to contribute by way of intel?

TIA
 
Probably wanted a name close to Vodacom - I actually thought it was a typo when I saw the thread title...
 
Google finds little to nothing on this company. Wtf?! An IT company with zero digital footprint??! I'm a little pissed off. Fibrehoods were the other option.
 
sand_man said:
Google finds little to nothing on this company. Wtf?! An IT company with zero digital footprint??! I'm a little pissed off. Fibrehoods were the other option.
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Subsidiaries or agents. So much going on with the developments lately. I was introduced to a 'new' company the other day which has much invested in this venture over the past years, yet you don't see them anywhere, same people which are stakeholders in the larger entities… marketing, sub-divisions, etc, etc, etc.

Vulacom on the other hand, little creativity.
 
From the security company currently doing duty in my Neighbourhood. Cap. Emailed them asking what? Where? How? No response as yet.
 
What pisses me off is once a fibre provider has been adopted, that's it. Hopefully this lot aren't a bunch of lemons.
 
sand_man said:
From the security company currently doing duty in my Neighbourhood. Cap. Emailed them asking what? Where? How? No response as yet.
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There was a company named VULA Communications, but I'm not sure that they exist today. I did some searching, because I doubt than a company will challenge Vodacom in naming their entity.

http://www.vula.co.za/index.php?link=about_us.php&selection=ABOUT+US

1996

Vula Communications (Pty) Ltd is formed to bid for third cellular network licence.
Vula T.V. partners with Hosken to bid successfully for the first free to air T.V. (e-TV)
Vula Communications in partnership with FNB, Marubeni and Telkom Finland.
Prepare a bid for the third cellular network licence.
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Perhaps their name changed or amalgamated into another entity... Don't know.

Then there is this...

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?op...0145:vula-md-to-challenge-suspension&catid=69

Vula MD to challenge suspension

Mark Headbush, who was suspended as Vula Communications MD last week, has told the Saturday Star he is seeking legal advice to challenge the board`s decision to remove him from his post. He said he had not been given a chance to defend himself before the suspension.

Vula Communications, the empowerment telecommunications company, said on Thursday it had suspended Headbush following an audit into the group`s affairs.
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I guess it may have something to do with Telsaf Data today. Again, not sure.
 
Thanks. Either way it doesn't bode well. Hope cap have done their due diligence. Fibre hoods have been raring to go since June.
 
sand_man said:
Thanks. Either way it doesn't bode well. Hope cap have done their due diligence. Fibre hoods have been raring to go since June.
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Fibrehoods have been great so far for me... hopefully this Vulacom works out for you guys too

Edit, also, now you have a private FTTH provider on its way, Telkom will now do your area in record time and promote it, so you'll have a back up if things go pear shaped
 
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ellyally said:
Fibrehoods have been great so far for me... hopefully this Vulacom works out for you guys too
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Yeah, I was really rooting for Fibrehoods!! Anyway... Here is the communique in full.

Bringing Fibre To Your Area

Community Active Protection (CAP) and Norwood Orchards Residents Association (NORA) are excited to announce that after an extensive RFI process, Vulacom has been selected as the preferred provider for the installation of fibre infrastructure in the NORA and surrounding suburbs.

The Fibre To The Home (FTTH) network will provide residents access to high speed broadband connectivity and all other associated services.

This partnership also ensures an integrated security solution for the area, empowering CAP to deliver even greater results for our suburbs.

How it will work?

Vulacom is in the advanced stages of finalising relationships with a number of Internet Service Providers (ISP’s).

Residents will have the option to contract with an ISP of their choice for services on the FFTH network. The ISP in turn, based on the package you select will bill you monthly for these services.

Residents therefore will only pay one amount for connectivity and services to the ISP of their choice on a monthly basis.

Who is Vulacom?

VulaCom is a specially established Open Access Network provider that has perfected the transport of carrier-neutral voice, broadband and Value-Added Services (VAS) over first-world fibre networks, deployed to the home or business.

With a track-record that includes the deployment of the first FTTH network in South Africa in 2005 and playing a key role in the deployment of South Africa’s first Open Access Network in 2011, the VulaCom team has the experience and track-record that will help diffrentiate the NORA precincts as a first-world connected community of choice.

What are the next steps?


1. Further information to be released - Before the end of the month, further exciting information pertaining to the roll out of the network including but not limited to the timelines, ISP’s and pricing will be made available. We are confident that the entire feeder network will be completed by November 2015, with home and business access connections deployed as and when required and approved.

2. Complete our survey - If you have not yet completed the fibre survey, please take this opportunity to do so now. By clicking on the fibre survey link below.

3. Be a Fibre Champion - Help us reach our implementation date, by volunteering to be a Fibre Champion! If you are interested in volunteering a few hours a week, for a short period of time, please send us an email to [email protected].
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Chatting to guys on the NORA committee, it seems that Fibrehood may still rollout also, meaning that we may end up with two fibre suppliers to the area, which I suppose is good from a competition perspective.
But my gut tells me that it's not worth fibrehood doing that because people in the area will naturally go with the CAP option because it makes more sense.

You will probably find that FibreHood will stick to CSS areas, and Vula will push for Cap areas

I was rooting for Fibrehood also, but the added security element makes sense to me. And Cap/Gap are no fools, I am sure they did their homework (I hope)
 
This is the latest communique from residents association re Vulacom...

Hi Jimmy*

All good thanks – I hope on your side too!

You wont find anything on Vulacom as it is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that is being formed to caretake fibre technology to NORA and NEAP (CAP) areas. The folk that are forming Vulacom are part of the FTTH council and other fibre groups, they have loads of experience in CT and Jhb at rolling out fibre networks. We were introduced to them through CAP and have compared the offerings, and feel that Vulacom will provide a better service offering to residents.

They will be introducing multiple ISPs on the network and I believe VOX will be one of these (Mweb, IS, and others will also be invited to participate). More information will be available later in the month once all the contractual agreements have been completed. I am sure that we can share the findings of the RFI process once the NDAs have been satisfied.

Happy to discuss this further if you have any other questions.


Thanks!
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Hmmm... don't mean to sound negative, but I'd be worried. That sounds fairly 'standard' for SA. Options: Use one of the existing providers who have submitted proposals. Outcome: Ignore all and hand off(tender) to buddy who will create a company to do it.

I hope it turns out okay for all.
 
Update on this if anyone is interested...

Dear residents of Norwood, Orchards, The Gardens and Cheltondale,
In the two weeks since the joint CAP/NORA press release on Fibre To The Home (FTTH), VulaCom has made good progress and we have the following to report:
 The CAP Survey has revealed strong support for FTTH in Norwood, Orchards, Cheltondale, The Gardens, Oaklands and Abbotsford.
 VulaCom is currently planning the network construction, and this will be concluded by mid- September.
 Look out for the VulaCom website, launching in the third week of September – we will be sending out the URL soon.
 Agreements between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will soon be concluded, and ISP details will be posted on the VulaCom website at the end of September.
 Network deployment is expected to take place in October and November.
Yours Sincerely,
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