vis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its b

Wi-Fi along the Garden Route

Last year, the Mail & Guardian reported that the Knysna municipality was working with UniNet to set up a Wi-Fl network that would blanket the entire municipal area in an attempt to provide cheap broadband and voice services to residents, businesses and local government offices.

UniNets David Jarvis says the company has delivered the broadband services to Knysna residents, but the voice services have been stalled by the failure to secure an interconnection agreement with Telkom, which would allow residents to make and receive calls outside Knysna. Knysna’s residents can purchase uncapped broadband packages from UniNet that range between R255 and R800, depending on the download speeds required.

Jarvis says the services have only been on offer for a few months and already they have just fewer than 200 customers. A massive marketing campaign is planned for next year to attract more customers.

UniNet also provides wireless hot spots throughout Knysna where residents get free access to the internet. Jarvis says this is set to change: residents will get 45 free minutes a day and pay for usage over and above this. Once the interconnection agreement with Telkom is ironed out, Knysnas residents can expect their first 100 minutes of local calls to be free, a 50% reduction in rates for calls to cellphones and a 10% to 15% reduction in long-distance call rates to Telkom landlines.

Jarvis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its ba

oadband services to Knysna residents, but the voice services have been stalled by the failure to secure an interconnection agreement with Telkom, which would allow residents to make and receive calls outside Knysna. Knysna’s residents can purchase uncapped broadband packages from UniNet that range between R255 and R800, depending on the download speeds required.

Jarvis says the services have only been on offer for a few months and already they have just fewer than 200 customers. A massive marketing campaign is planned for next year to attract more customers.

UniNet also provides wireless hot spots throughout Knysna where residents get free access to the internet. Jarvis says this is set to change: residents will get 45 free minutes a day and pay for usage over and above this. Once the interconnection agreement with Telkom is ironed out, Knysnas residents can expect their first 100 minutes of local calls to be free, a 50% reduction in rates for calls to cellphones and a 10% to 15% reduction in long-distance call rates to Telkom landlines.

Jarvis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its b

ays the services have only been on offer for a few months and already they have just fewer than 200 customers. A massive marketing campaign is planned for next year to attract more customers.

UniNet also provides wireless hot spots throughout Knysna where residents get free access to the internet. Jarvis says this is set to change: residents will get 45 free minutes a day and pay for usage over and above this. Once the interconnection agreement with Telkom is ironed out, Knysnas residents can expect their first 100 minutes of local calls to be free, a 50% reduction in rates for calls to cellphones and a 10% to 15% reduction in long-distance call rates to Telkom landlines.

Jarvis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its b

s says this is set to change: residents will get 45 free minutes a day and pay for usage over and above this. Once the interconnection agreement with Telkom is ironed out, Knysnas residents can expect their first 100 minutes of local calls to be free, a 50% reduction in rates for calls to cellphones and a 10% to 15% reduction in long-distance call rates to Telkom landlines.

Jarvis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its b

vis says the recent deal UniNet signed with ITel to provide the same services they offer Knysna to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will speed up the interconnection agreement. He hopes voice services will be offered by February next year.

Broadband in the City of Gold

The City of Johannesburg is also planning to offer broadband services using its backbone network, but services are unlikely to reach the first customers before 2008. The city's economic development, tourism and marketing department is heading up the project, says project consultant Douglas Cohen. It has taken a huge leap in terms of political buy-in, with the mayoral committee approving the project in October and agreeing to set up a mayoral subcommittee with a project office.

Cohen says that early next year a request for a proposal will be issued and, once an implementation plan has been drawn up, a tender will be issued. We are on the path now, he says. However, some analysts and stakeholders argue that bureaucratic red tape and a lack of political will are stifling the attempts of municipalities to bring services to residents and businesses.

Dave Gale, who is head of business development for telecoms operator Storm, says conflict between municipal departments, which have to work together on projects such as this, has been a major headache. The wheels just turn so damn slowly, he says. You have to get people to move at an lTl Telecoms real world speed. These guys have assets and a great opportunity to use those assets, but they don't see the urgency with which they have to run. Or if they do, they are thwarted by a lack of political will. I don't think they've missed the boat, but I don't think they're the great hope of telecoms either, says Gale.

Cohen says there will always be a role for municipalities to play because there will always be under-serviced areas.