Vodacom in ‘landmark’ fibre deal
Vodacom has won a contract to light the entire fibre optic backbone of the 320 hectare Baywest City development in Port Elizabeth.
Vodacom signed with the developers of the R1.7 billion Baywest Mall in PE’s western suburbs to provide high speed internet to Baywest Mall tenants and shoppers alike.
The 87,500m² mall is scheduled to open next year, in April.
“Baywest is the first large scale “green fields” development in the country to incorporate a wholly functional fibre optic backbone from inception,” the developers said.
A development spanning the next decade, Baywest City includes commercial and retail offerings, as well as residential nodes with a private school and hospital in a model similar to Cape Town’s Century City development.
Baywest MD Gavin Blows said:“It will be a smart city with fibre optics throughout, allowing for high speed internet access. The security and internet access will run off this fibre optic backbone.”
“The fibre optic network also allows for free calls within the precinct, reduced call rates, easy cloud computing, and live gaming without any lag, among a host of other advantages,” said Blows.
With just over 1,600 workers currently working on the mall, Blows said tenant installations were on track to start from December.
“There are about 3.5km of shop fronts throughout the mall and about 35km worth of electrical cabling,” he said.
Baywest Mall — November 2014
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