Unused dark fibre network in South Africa can be used to launch a quantum network
There are thousands of kilometres of mostly untapped, government-owned dark fibre infrastructure connecting all of South Africa’s economic hubs with a combined capacity of 4Tbps.
The South African government plans to use this vast network to support a future quantum communication economy projected to become worth R911 million in South Africa by 2030.
Andrew Forbes, director of the South African Quantum Technology Initiative (SAQUTI), said the government now wants to allow private companies, such as banks, to test services on this network.
“The idea is to demonstrate local technology in this fibre to show businesses and the private sector what it can do to fast-track their adoption of quantum technology,” he told MyBroadband.
Global research firm Grand View Research said that the local quantum communication market generated R166 million in revenue in 2024 despite significant portions of government fibre remaining untouched.
Forbes told Forbes Africa that it is unusual that South Africa has so much untapped dark fibre buried underground, as most countries use every metre.
“We can access that dark fibre to implement a quantum network,” he said.
Through SAQUTI, Forbes is working on a highly secure technological system that uses light to transmit data “thousands or millions of times the speed we have today.”
This system protects data using quantum encryption, theorised to be unbreakable, which could be of significant value to banks, financial services, and institutions transmitting sensitive information.
Per Forbes, the infrastructure was an idea of the ANC’s first Department of Science and Technology post-1994. It was designed to facilitate a future nationwide communication network.
“‘We expect to get everybody talking to each other. So, we’re going to need fibre connections that link everybody together. Let’s lay it for the future,’ which they did,” he said.
“So we’ve got all these fibre links that were put under the ground with this prescient view that in the future this would be useful.”
TENET and SANReN’s role
A portion of the fibre network is overseen by Tenet, a non-profit company that operates the South African National Research Network (Sanren) using the infrastructure.
This research network was specifically designed to benefit universities in South Africa and research organisations like the CSIR, with Tenet contracted by the Department of Science and Technology.
According to Tenet, the initial backbone of the network was commissioned in 2009 and comprised a 10Gbps ring connecting Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town.
Gqeberha, East London and Durban were also part of the initial backbone. Tenet said that the network has since been significantly extended through a number of government initiatives.
The fibre infrastructure interconnecting Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban was fully commissioned in 2010, and connected around 90 campuses.
Dedicated access circuits include “high-capacity long-haul circuits” to the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) and other astronomical research sites.
This includes the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Sutherland and the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) ‘s magnetic observatory in Hermanus.
The developing Square Kilometre Array (SKA) site in Carnarvon is also connected. This network received a wide-ranging upgrade in 2019 and by 2023.
By 2023, Tenet oversaw more than 500 separate fibre optic circuits and over 600 discrete routers on behalf of Sanren. The total capacity of this managed infrastructure is 4Tbps.
Forbes believes that quantum communications is “an extremely valuable resource.” It potentially promises a new economy for our planet based on quantum technologies.
In 2014, the University of the Witwatersrand professor was a co-recipient of a R2.5-million research grant from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.
“I envisage South Africa, which has no Silicon Valley of its own, becoming a leader in quantum software, much like apps on cellphones, but harnessing quantum technology,” he said.
“I see us creating a quantum-literate workforce that will realise our country’s immense human potential and create human and economic opportunities that we cannot yet imagine.”
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