FibreCo Telecommunications, a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions, has completed its 2 000 km fibre-optic network interconnecting Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, East London and Cape Town, which now “provides the shortest and fastest optical-fibre connectivity between these cities”, the company said.

This link formed part of FibreCo’s R5-billion national fibre-optic broadband network project – a three-phase, 12 000 km, high-speed, open-access, long-haul fibre-optic network.

"This new fibre-optic link will provide broadband users in the Eastern Cape and Free State with faster and more affordable connectivity back into the national fibre grid,” commented FibreCo chairperson Andile Ngcaba.

Open-access fibre backbone infrastructure, the company stated, was key to facilitating the kind of services-based competition that would ensure delivery of a more “affordable and innovative” broadband experience across South Africa, but, more specifically, into and close to several poorly connected areas along the route.

FibreCo CEO Arif Hussain said the company was “delighted with the progress we have made to date”, adding that FibreCo was a clear demonstration of how private infrastructure investors and competitive operators could work together to deploy critical infrastructure quickly and cost-effectively, while remaining truly open-access.

MTN, with which FibreCo had entered into a strategic partnership, was the first operator to light up new capacity on the company’s network into East London, a key landing point in the Eastern Cape, a province with one the highest levels of "broadband deprivation" nationally, according to research done by the Department of Communications.

FibreCo noted that access to its route between Johannesburg and East London complemented MTN’s own extensive national and access fibre-optic network footprint.

Meanwhile, the completion of the 2 000-km-long network came roughly two years after FirbreCo announced in September 2011 that it had signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Chinese telecommunications equipment provider ZTE for the roll-out of its long-distance fibre-optic cable system and secured British Telecom, Cell C and Internet Solutions as the first three key anchor tenants on its open-access network.

Over this time, FibreCo completed the R700-million physical installation of around 1 000 km of linear fibre-optic cable, connecting Bloemfontein with Johannesburg and East London, in just 14 months. For this achievement, the company received the 2013 Project Management and Construction Project of the Year award from the South African Institution of Civil Engineers.

However, FibreCo highlighted that it had also collaborated extensively with other fibre infrastructure operators and broadband networks to avoid duplication of fibre routes, providing both environmental benefits, as well as economic efficiencies, which would, ultimately, benefit Internet users.

The company said long-haul fibre routes were the foundation of the Internet and FibreCo’s network would provide unprecedented broadband capacity between inland cities and the submarine cable landing stations on South Africa’s West Coast.

FibreCo was now turning its focus to the construction of its Cape Town to Durban link, which was scheduled to start in early 2014 and expected to be complete by the end of 2015.

The company said its network ensured secure high-speed, high-capacity and low-latency data transmission and that it was now accepting customer agreements for fibre and co-location facilities on its current and future network.