Opening up broadband access
Under the guidance of Charles Kuun, Tshwane has rolled out infrastructure – which is already being used – in a variety of pilot projects, including delivering broadband over power lines and through the new WiMax technology.
Another technology that’s being trailed in the Hatfield area is a WiFi-based wireless mesh network.
The proof of concept study is being conducted by Neology, a small Johannesburg-based wireless specialist. MD Matthew Austin says that Neology is testing two technologies: the first the mesh network and then an open access platform that allows providers of telecoms infrastructure – in this case, the City of Tshwane – to provide the physical network but to allow any number of service provi-ders to offer commercial services on that infrastructure.
Austin says that although the physical infrastructure could entail any number of systems, including wireless and wired technologies, the client doesn’t have to commit to a specific technology, as is currently the case. For example, with ADSL where the ADSL subscriber can’t connect via iBurst without entering into a separate contract.
With an open access platform you would, in theory, be able to use the high speeds provided by broadband over a power line at home, WiMax or WiFi where it was available. All that would be achieved without clients having to sign contracts with separate service providers.
"Currently, almost all of the money spent on telecoms services leaves the community. But the creation of location-based open access platforms enables small, locally focused ISPs to offer a more personalised level of service and we estimate that would keep 67% of the revenues from telecoms services in the community.
"If it proves successful then it would allow smaller municipalities to take the blueprint and roll out metropolitan area networks in a fraction of the time that they’d currently need," Austin says.
The mesh network that Neology has deployed at Hatfield uses technology that it built itself, which Austin says has cut the cost of mesh access points from R29 200 to R4 000/node.
He says that depending on the traffic that the various parts of the network receive, it’s relatively easy to add new nodes to handle increased traffic. In the Hatfield trial the mesh network nodes are mounted on lampposts and provide coverage of between 100m and 500m, depending on the location and other impediments, such as the number of high buildings blocking the signal.
The Hatfield network is similar to that being deployed at Mountain View, California, by Google. Except that Austin says that in Mountain View the money being generated still ends up in the pockets of large corporations – in that case, Google and Earthlink – and does not stay in the local community, as will be the case in Tshwane.
Other articles in Finweek this week:
- Why Vodacom HSDPA Rules
- The ultimate desktop recoveray
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