At a sod turning held today in Bloemfontein, FibreCo Telecommunications (FibreCo) broke-ground to start the construction phase of its much anticipated long-distance fibre optic network, which is set to revolutionise telecommunications in South Africa. The Company will invest up to R5 billion in infrastructure over the next five years, with a vision of ultimately building a network of over 12,000 km.

Construction has commenced on a 2,000 km link between Johannesburg and Cape Town, to be connected through Bloemfontein, East London and Port Elizabeth, providing access to a wide range of rural and smaller urban areas along the route.

The project is expected to create close to 2,300 jobs directly and indirectly across the country. An estimated 70-80% of the network construction relates to civil works, to be carried out by technology partner, ZTE Corporation (ZTE), in collaboration with local engineering firms and subcontractors. At least 200 fibre optic technicians,  who will be located locally along the route for operation and maintenance of the network, will also be trained and certified under the internationally recognised Fibre Optic Association.

The technological advantage of the network lies in the fibre optic cable comprising several insulated, flexible and transparent fibre optic glass strands no thicker than a human hair. This fibre cable will be laid in underground ducts through a sophisticated linear construction process. Once installed, the cable will offer unrivalled connectivity and stability, with each individual fibre pair being capable of transmitting over 1,600 Gigabytes per second of data. Through FibreCo’s open-access model other broadband network operators will be able to directly access and light up their own dedicated fibre optic infrastructure.

FibreCo’s network will accelerate the delivery of affordable, reliable and fast Internet access to South African citizens and enterprises, and contribute to making Government’s objective of delivering 100% broadband penetration by 2020, a reality.

“FibreCo has heeded Government’s call for the private sector to be part of a ‘massive infrastructure development drive’ to boost economic growth and create job opportunities. The FibreCo network will not only contribute toward this objective, but also bring tangible broadband accessibility to poorly connected rural areas,” said Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of FibreCo Telecommunications.

“This is a momentous day for FibreCo. The open-access network we are developing will help to unblock one of the last major bottlenecks in South Africa’s broadband connectivity, boosting capacity between our population centres inland and the undersea cable landing stations on the East and West coast. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but are confident that we have the resources and partnerships to succeed,” says Arif Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of FibreCo Telecommunications.

FibreCo is a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions, and has signed capacity purchase agreements with British Telecom (BT), Cell C and Internet Solutions, as its first three clients.

“The gap in access to broadband connectivity in South Africa’s rural and urban areas exists mainly because of a lack of cost-effective broadband transmission infrastructure. FibreCo’s broadband infrastructure development is critical to Government’s wider ICT agenda of bringing down the cost of broadband access and increasing broadband penetration across South Africa by 2020,” commented Alan Knott-Craig, CEO of Cell C.

“This project is essential to the advancement of South Africa’s IP-based technological capabilities. By providing an alternative national transmission network we are liberalising the market and will open up new opportunities for local businesses and service providers alike. A high speed fibre network of this nature will enable and accelerate the adoption of important IP-based communication, collaboration and cloud technologies, which will help to drive both business and economic growth in the country,” said Prenesh Padayachee, Chief Technology Officer at Internet Solutions.

“In February 2012 BT announced a series of initiatives aimed at doubling its business across Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. BT’s capacity purchase agreement with FibreCo will allow our clients in South Africa to gain access to a richer portfolio of innovative services thus leveraging BT’s network breadth and depth. The playing field in the South African telecommunications market is starting to level out and this is good news for the industry,” said Keith Matthews, General Manager of BT Sub-Sahara Africa.

FibreCo expects to start offering services on selected routes from early 2013, with the link between Johannesburg and Cape Town anticipated to be operational in the latter half of 2013.

About FibreCo Telecommunications

• FibreCo is a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions
• FibreCo is developing a 12,000 km, high speed, long-haul, fibre optic network on an open-access basis with an overall anticipated investment of up to R5 billion
• Physical construction has commenced on the first 2,000 km of the network between Johannesburg to Cape Town of which 550 km is in the Free State
• Once FibreCo completes the construction phase and moves into operations, it will establish a central Network Operating Centre (NOC), together with regional network operations service hubs around the country
• FibreCo has secured three key Anchor Tenants for the first phase of the network, namely Cell C, Internet Solutions and British Telecom

ZTE Corporation, a public-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions operating in more than 140 counties, was awarded the contract for the construction of FibreCo’s network. ZTE brings a wealth of technical expertise through their investment in R&D in the field of optical transmission and photonics, coupled with vast experience in the deployment of fibre optic worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement with ZTE, local civil contractors will be used for the implementation of the FibreCo network.

See attached Press Release: FibreCo Press Release

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Allan Cawood, CEO of Dimension Data Middle East & Africa (MEA) has stepped down after serving the company since 2001 to pursue other personal and professional interests. Derek Wilcocks, Managing Director of Dimension Data’s wholly-owned Internet Solutions business, has been appointed to succeed Cawood as CEO with immediate effect. Saki Missaikos, currently Sales Director for Dimension Data MEA since 2003, will take over the reins as Managing Director of Internet Solutions in Derek’s stead.

Convergence Partners wishes to take this opportunity to wish Allan well in his future endeavours and to thank and congratulate him on his solid stewardship of the business. During Allan’s tenure as CEO the business achieved three-fold revenue growth and doubled profits.

We also take this opportunity to welcome both Derek and Saki to their new roles. Convergence Partners has had the opportunity to interact extensively with Derek and Saki in their roles as senior executives of the Dimension Data Group over many years and look forward to engaging with them in their new positions going forward.

Derek Wilcocks is no stranger to Dimension Data. He joined the Group as founding Managing Director of Internet Solutions subsidiary, Trusted Network Solutions, in 1995. He has been the Managing Director of Internet Solutions since October 2009. Prior to this role, he has held a number of executive positions during his 14 years with Dimension Data MEA, including running strategy and technology for Dimension Data.

During his seven years at Internet Solutions, Saki Missaikos held management positions in both sales and business development, as well as starting up a number of new business units and developing new products and solutions. He moved from Internet Solutions to Dimension Data in 2003 to head up sales and subsequently took on responsibility for sales across the various Dimension Data brands.

Convergence Partners Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, was quoted in the Dimension Data press release in his capacity as Dimension Data MEA Chairman, as saying: “In line with Dimension Data’s long standing commitment to promote from within, the board and my executive team have unanimously concluded that Derek Wilcocks, currently Managing Director of Internet Solutions, is the candidate to succeed Allan as CEO of Dimension Data MEA. Derek is highly regarded in the industry and brings with him an outstanding track record with Dimension Data into his new role. In addition, Saki Missaikos boasts a long history with Internet Solutions, having originally joined the company in 1995.”

Dimension Data Press Release

Article from ITWeb

Dimension Data has been awarded number one EMC partner status in South Africa. This accolade was presented on the back of a recent acknowledgement as part of an elite group of integrators to participate in the EMC Velocity² Signature Solutions Centre Partnership Programme.

The accolade of number one EMC partner status in the country is based on the strength of Dimension Data’s long-standing relationship with EMC, its commitment to the development of skills, adherence to a stringent set of requirements, and overall revenue generated.

As an EMC Signature Solutions Centre Partner, Dimension Data is also an EMC Velocity programme level partner in South Africa and is the only systems integrator able to offer a continental footprint. Dimension Data now boasts dedicated facilities, fully provisioned with the very latest innovations from EMC as well as key vendor partnerships with Cisco and VMware.

“Dimension Data is extremely excited and honoured to be recognised by EMC for the hard work and dedication we place on the data centre space. As the number one EMC partner in South Africa, we are not only reinforcing our goal of becoming the market leaders in the cloud computing segment, but are further increasing our reputation as one of the most advanced system integrators in the market,” says Anton Jooste, solutions executive at Dimension Data Middle East and Africa.

Dimension Data possesses premier virtualisation capabilities, particularly in the VMware space. When partnered with the company’s forward-thinking architects and account managers, the result is a natural progression, firmly cementing the company’s position as the integrator of choice for EMC, Cisco and VMware.

Inana Nkanza, EMC Southern Africa country manager, says Dimension Data’s capabilities in the data centre and virtualisation markets reduce uncertainty and client reluctance to test unproven solutions in their own production sites. “Dimension Data has also been successful in enabling planned demonstrations, targeted at customers’ specific IT needs. The result is that clients across a variety of industries have been able to address their existing business and operational pain points while simultaneously accelerating their journey towards cloud solutions,” Nkanza says.

Stephen Green, general manager, Data Centre Solutions, Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, says: “Dimension Data’s close relationship and strategic partnership status with EMC, Cisco and VMware enables us to showcase our ability to provide end-to-end solutions for these vendors and clients.”

Article from BizCommunity

Dieter van Rooyen, Operations Director at Integrat, has been re-appointed to the Management Committee of the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA), the industry association that regulates the activities of the mobile content industry.

While the names of the members of WASPA’s Mancom for 2012 and the portfolios and working groups are largely unchanged, members say that their increased joint experience will stand the association in good stead as it promotes its mandate of encouraging mobile uptake.

“South African mobile users will only explore the mobile content and applications offered by WASPA members if they feel comfortable and secure doing so.

“This means WASPA will continue promoting the industry as well as enforcing and refining its Code of Conduct,” said WASPA chairman Leon Perlman.

Read Article from BizCommunity

Chairman of Convergence Partners, Andile Ngcaba, made a keynote address at the Department of Communications ICT Policy Colloquium on the 19^th of April 2012 about building a digital life for all South Africans.

His presentation was a summary of a detailed paper prepared for the event.  In the paper, Andile presented that the ICT sector had experienced significant technological advancements over the last decade that had necessitated a comprehensive review of the laws and policy framework governing the sector. Secondly, he provided a historical overview of policymaking in the ICT sector over the last century and discussed the need for a new paradigm in modern policy development as the distinction between historically disparate technologies had become blurred in the era of convergence.

Thirdly, he spoke about how the policy-making process required extensive and deep consultation between four pillars, namely: (i) an inter-governmental forum; (ii) demand side players; (iii) supply-side players (iv) and the international community. Critical to this new policy paradigm was the enablement of ICT policy by all stakeholders, especially those outside traditional ICT sectors, e.g. financial services, health, education and local authorities. In conclusion, a review of the legislative changes to be made was presented and it argued that ICT policymaking needed to be overhauled to enable the advancement of digital technologies.

Open Andile’s presentation here

Mark Simpson, Chief Executive Officer at SEACOM said during his discussion with Natascha Jacobsz at ABN studios, “Broadband connectivity will spur growth in African economies over the next decade, but there is still plenty of work to be done in building the telecommunications infrastructure that will connect the continent to the global village”.

Also, Aidan Baigrie, Head of Business Development, spoke on the subject during the Sixth Annual Africa Economic Forum. “He says that broadband is to the 21st century what railways were to the last century the engine of social and economic progress that forges economic links between countries and supercharges trade and transactions.

One World Bank study found a 1.3% increase in GDP for every 10% increase in broadband connectivity an illustration of just how important connectivity is in Africa’s growth path. Though the relationship between GDP and broadband may not be one of simple direct causality, there is no doubt that access to information, communication and education helps countries to grow their economies at a rapid rate.

Baigrie says that new international cables such as SEACOM have helped to boost the performance of the Internet in many African countries while reducing costs for the end-user. In service since July 2009, SEACOM alone has seen more than 10-fold increases in bandwidth penetration in several of Africa’s most underserved nations, along with big drops in connectivity prices. Many African operators are also investing in national backhaul links and the last mile.

Yet there is still a long way to go. Africa has less than 0.4 Tbps of international connectivity going into Europe, compared to nearly 5.0 Tbps of capacity between Europe and the US. Demand for connectivity in Africa is still spiking, meaning that there will need to be plenty of investment to keep up. Etforecasts predicts almost another 150 million more internet users in Africa within three years from now.

Demand is being spurred by the availability of mobile broadband and cheaper smartphones, Baigrie says. Users want Internet access via smartphones for entertainment, shopping, social networking and commercial applications, leading to an explosion in mobile data on African telecom networks.

Cisco, for example, predicts that mobile devices will surpass the population by the end of the year and that African mobile data traffic will explode at a compounded annual rate of 104% between 2011-2016. By 2013, MTN expects to have more smartphones than regular phones in South Africa.

SEACOM is growing its capacity to keep up with demand. On one of SEACOM’s terrestrial backhaul links, Infinera and SEACOM ran a world first field trial for a 500 Gbps photonic integrated circuit (PIC), proving that although the demand for land-based fibre transmission speeds of 100s of Gigabits per second may still be in the future with projects such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the technology capable of achieving this is already available.

However, African regulators and operators also need to be focusing as much on access networks as they are on submarine cables and backhaul connectivity to drive growth, Baigrie says. African regulators need to make frequency spectrum available in a structured manner, and need to create partnership models that support operators in building and deploying infrastructure rapidly and in an open access manner that helps build an African Internet”.

Video of Mark’s interview

Article on ABN Digital

BWTH Blog – Aidan’s speech

Brett Dawson, CEO of Dimension Data, was recently interviewed by the Sunday Times as part of its EACH ONEHIRE ONE series about dealing with unemployment in South Africa. Extracts of the interview are reprinted below.

Of all the socioeconomic challenges facing South Africa, unemployment must be the greatest. It represents not only wasted potential and productivity, but is depriving us of the future it deserves. Of course, employment means much more than earning an income: it promotes self-worth, independence and innovation. More jobs would have an invaluable effect on the social fabric of this country, reducing poverty, crime and violence.

While there’s no single policy or approach to creating more jobs, I believe it’s essential for South Africa and in particular South African businesses to be more competitive. This, in turn, will be the most effective engine for job creation in this country.

We have some of the highest unemployment rates in the world even worse than Iraq. For a middle-income emerging market with abundant natural resources, well-developed financial and legal sectors, and the 18th-largest stock exchange in the world, this level of unemployment is unacceptable.

I believe the only way we can create sustainable jobs is through sustainable business and, in order for business to be sustainable; it needs to be competitive and internationally competitive at that.

If companies are commercially competitive they will create jobs.

Implementing structural reforms, minimising unnecessary bureaucracy, and encouraging the creation and expansion of enterprise and industry, will lead to more jobs being created.

One of the key macroeconomic forces at play at present is the competitiveness of nations and South Africa is not as competitive as it could be.

In an economic climate characterised by a shift in economic activity from advanced to emerging markets, this country needs to take advantage of these opportunities. In a global marketplace, international organisations have been sending their operations offshore, going to where doing business is cheap and easy. This is the crux of the Asian success story”

Read full story here!

Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners, has been elected to serve as a Board member of the FTTH Council Africa. The Board selection process resulted in a shortlist of 10 nominees of which five were elected to serve thereon.

Also appointed to serve in the board is, Ms Zellah Fuphe from Plessey, Mr Johan Kleynhans from MCT and Mr Alfie Martins from Zhone.

The board of directors will actively promote the fibre industry and will dedicate some of their time to engage on behalf of industry at all levels of public and private sector. In addition to oversight of the day-to-day running of the Council.

“I look forward to bringing some of the lessons learnt from our infrastructure projects, both here in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, to the table at the Council. It is clear that much work needs to be done to remove the current layers of bureaucracy, which are holding back wide-scale deployment of vital infrastructure”, says Doyle.

Dimension Data and Internet Solutions have introduced a comprehensive portfolio of cloud computing services across the South African region, offering companies a flexible and cost-efficient new way of procuring computing resources. The companies also announced the launch of its Managed Cloud Platform™ (MCP), a pre-integrated and fully-managed foundation for global cloud delivery, in Johannesburg.

Dimension Data’s and Internet Solutions’ cloud services allow companies in the region to easily and securely access on-demand computer processing power, memory and storage through a cloud computing model. The service accommodates companies looking to operate their own private clouds in addition to those that prefer to buy public cloud services.

The cloud offering simplifies planning, design, deployment and management of private, public and hybrid clouds, enabling organisations to increase business responsiveness and reduce complexity. Dimension Data’s MCP and CloudControl™ cloud management system automate the provisioning, orchestration, administration and billing of cloud-based resources.

“Although the concept of private and public cloud computing is not new, the joint effort by Dimension Data and Internet Solutions presents a customisable set of solutions and a flexible approach to buying and consuming IT services for corporate clients across the Middle East and Africa region,” says Greg Hatfield, GM for Cloud Services at Dimension Data Middle East and Africa.

The benefits of the cloud computing offering to corporate IT users include lower capital expenditure, reduced IT infrastructure management costs, and the ability to roll out new applications and services faster. One of the biggest advantages of cloud computing for organisations is the fact that it allows them to launch to market quicker with new applications and services to respond faster to market needs.

“In the public cloud model, organisations consume cloud services that are securely hosted at an Internet Solutions data centre. The public cloud service enables organisations to reduce costs and operational complexity,” says Greg Montjoie, Executive for Cloud Services at Internet Solutions.

Dimension Data’s private cloud offering provides cloud infrastructure as a dedicated service either at the client’s data centre or hosted at Internet Solutions. This service includes the cloud infrastructure, implementation, cloud orchestration and automation technology, and ongoing management by Dimension Data.

With Dimension Data’s CloudControl™ cloud management system, clients can manage public and private cloud services through a web-based self-service interface and API, making it simple for them to control and configure their computing resources.

Dimension Data and Internet Solutions are also making private and public cloud services available to service providers wanting to resell these offerings under their own brand. The billing and administration tools are designed to make it easy for service providers to bill clients for cloud services.

Dimension Data and Internet Solutions are well positioned to jointly offer cloud services as part of a turnkey IT solution that includes communications services, data centre products and services, and cloud as a single managed service. This enables companies to comfortably outsource the risk and complexity of IT to a single solutions provider.

Press Release

Article from TechCentral

Convergence Partners congratulates Brian Herlihy, founder and Executive Director at SEACOM, who has been named as one of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) 192 Young Global Leaders for 2012. The annual honour recognises up to 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

Herlihy’s role in helping to bring high-speed Internet access to more of Africa’s people, through the SEACOM high-capacity submarine cable system, earned him a place on the list. He is the founder of SEACOM, and was the Chief Executive Officer of the company at launch, and now focuses on strategic projects essential for SEACOM’s continued growth and success.

SEACOM’s official launch in July 2009, marked the beginning of positive changes in numerous African countries via the spread of access to wholesale broadband Internet. Over 17,000km of undersea fibre optic cable was laid, connecting Africa to the rest of the world via India and Europe.

This helped to bring fast, reliable and affordable international bandwidth into many African nations for the first time. Low-cost, high-quality Internet access is critical to feeding African nations with the information and communications infrastructure they need to grow prosperous, connected and competitive economies.

Says Herlihy: “SEACOM believes in an interconnected African experience that is characterised by abundant local content, minimal latency and fast download and streaming speeds.  I am honoured that the WEF has seen fit to recognise and reward this vision with this award. I look forward to playing a role in making the Internet more accessible to more people in Africa in the years to come.”

“The management and employees of SEACOM congratulate Brian on this well-deserved achievement,” says SEACOM CEO, Mark Simpson. “His work has already had a profound impact on African societies and economies by helping the continent to get more affordably connected to the rest of the world.  This WEF honour is a fitting tribute to Brian’s vision for a more connected Africa.”

As one of the 2012 honourees, Herlihy will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises 713 outstanding individuals. The YGLs convene at an Annual Summit, which will be held this year in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on 14 to 18 April.

Read more here!

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