Cities go in-house
No more blackouts. This will be one of the bonuses when SA’s four major cities – Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini (Durban) and Cape Town – deploy their own telecommunications networks within the next year.
The networks will cost ratepayers about R1bn. It is part of the cities’ new strategy to run their municipalities like businesses.
Not only will the telecom s networks give cities more connectivity, they will allow municipalities to better manage electricity supply. James Masonganye, Tshwane’s director of operations & systems management, says networks will give cities capacity to remotely reduce how much each household consumes rather than blacking out whole blocks during load shedding.
eThekwini is following a similar approach. “We will be able to shut down hot water geysers during nonpeak times,” says Jacquie Subban, the municipality’s head of geographic information and policy.
The network will also provide more accurate data on households’ electricity consumption, since meter readings can be done remotely.
Controlling electricity consumption is only one advantage of municipalities running their own networks.
They will be able to control traffic lights and put CCTV cameras in remote locations as well, says Andre Stelzner, a support systems manager at the City of Cape Town.
Municipalities also plan to deploy infrastructure, such as wireless hotspots, for the 2010 soccer World Cup.
Why are SA cities deploying their own networks when SA has an abundance of telecom operators that are increasingly boosting infrastructure?
Municipalities say telecom companies might offer services in and around business centres, but have been slow to put infrastructure in remote areas.
Cape Town, for instance, wants to connect all its libraries to the Internet. However, it has found there are few, if any, high-speed data lines in its less-affluent suburbs.
Other municipalities have also encountered capacity constraints in trying to deploy similar services.
“We needed a network, so we built one,” is how Subban puts it.
Having their own networks substantially reduces municipal phone bills. eThekwini, for example, saved about R15m on telecom costs in 2006.
Telecom companies also benefit from municipal networks as they can buy spare capacity instead of building their own networks. Neotel is negotiating with Tshwane over using its network.
Municipalities are quick to point out that they do not want to steal business from the private sector, but rather be facilitators for economic growth.
Subban says eThekwini’s network, which is already operational, will soon be made available for business and educational institutions.
Allowing companies access to these networks at wholesales rates can boost the local economy. Research conducted by UCT economist Prof Barry Standish projects that the investment in Cape Town’s network could result in a cumulative contribution to the city’s GDP of R5,7bn by 2012.
“Telecommunications infrastructure has become basic economic infrastructure, as important as roads and water systems,” says Leon van Wyk, head of the city’s telecommunications department.
Even Telkom, which previously argued against the concept of municipalities running networks, supports the concept. It was one of the companies short-listed by Johannesburg for the deployment of its high-speed R500m network.
Tshwane’s fibre network is already in place and it is in the process of finalising its tender requirements for a broadband wireless network. The winner will install equipment at its own cost and share revenue with the city for services it provides to the public.
Cape Town is just weeks away from issuing a tender for the design of its R300m fibre network and expects to have it operational early next year.
The development of municipal networks has for a long time been driven by bureaucrats, but they are beginning to get traction because politicians are seeing the benefits.
They see it as a chance to cement their legacy in the way the Gautrain has done for former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa.
Municipal broadband discussion
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