Fibre-optic network operator FibreCo Telecommunications continues to advance the multibillion-rand rollout of South Africa’s largest long-distance open-access fibre-optic network, saying on Thursday that it had already completed half of the first phase of the project, lighting up over 2 400 km of fibre-optic cabling linking Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and East London.

Construction of the first 1 000 km linking Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and East London began in May 2012 and saw the telecommunications specialist investing some R700-million.

Upon the completion of Phase 1 of the project in 2016, which would see Cape Town and Durban being linked through Nelson Mandela Bay and East London, about 5 000 km of state-of-the-art fibre-optic cabling would have been laid across the country.

The company stated that its dark-fibre network would provide the shortest and fastest optical-fibre connectivity between key urban areas, allowing clients to provide unlimited capacity with the exclusive use of one or more fibres with a physically separate connection. 

Clients would be able to procure their own optical transmission equipment in line with their individual technical specifications.

“Networks can, therefore, easily be upgraded to higher data rates without the need to reinstall fibre. Effectively, clients own their own network on the FibreCo network,” the company said in a statement.

FibreCo, a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Dimension Data, had already secured long-term telecommunications contracts with Tier 1 carriers, including British Telecom, Internet Solutions and Cell C, and had entered into a strategic partnership with MTN.

“Once completed, this project will make FibreCo South Africa’s largest carrier-neutral fibre-optic network, which is laying the foundation to reduce the costs of Internet access while increasing connectivity speeds and creating much-needed jobs in the information communications technology (ICT) sector,” it added.

Meanwhile, the company this week arrived in Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape, to interview potential candidates for its internationally accredited fibre-optic training programme.

The programme would see it training up to 25 industry technicians in the Nelson Mandela Bay region ahead of the roll-out of the network through the Eastern Cape later this year.

The intensive month-long training programme, conducted in partnership with the Small Enterprise Development Agency’s Nelson Mandela Bay ICT Incubator (SNII), would offer trainees globally-accepted ICT accreditation, equipping them with skills to maintain and repair complex fibre-optic networks locally or abroad.

Upon completion of the training, the technicians would be certified under the internationally recognised Fibre Optic Association, which would be involved during the construction and maintenance of the network.

FibreCo human resources manager Tshepo Mpaneng said it was vital for the company to build a competent network of fibre-optic technicians in the various regions carrying FibreCo’s cabling.

Phase 1 of FibreCo’s project would create over 2 300 direct and indirect jobs.