GEORGE GOLDING For the education sector, reliable Internet means access to information for . . . teachers and students
Local telecoms provider Euphoria Telecom has partnered with South African Broadband Education Networks (Saben) to offer affordable Voice-over-Internet Protocol to South African technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and students.
Saben is an initiative tasked to solve bandwidth poverty at TVET colleges by working with these institutions to procure self-funded Internet connectivity.
Through Saben, colleges will now receive Internet and data networking services from the South African National Research Network and the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa. Saben currently caters for 17 of the 50 public TVET colleges in South Africa that have about half-a-million enrolled students.
Euphoria Telecom CEO George Golding says the TVET system is a key contributor to the overall success of South Africa’s labour market and its future economic growth.
Euphoria Telecom will provide a 25% discount on service fees and a significant reduction in call rates for registered educational and nongovernmental organisations.
Saben MD Arno Hart adds: “This partnership is another catalyst, like connectivity, to enabling social development in public education . . . The benefits of Euphoria’s service extend well beyond financial gain.”
Further, the partnership provides TVET colleges with access to a cloud Private Branch Exchange (PBX) solution, without the costs of on-site, traditional business PBX services. The Euphoria network offers free calling for anyone on the network.