Western Cape Premier Helen Zille delivered her State of the Province Address 2016 on 19 February, stating that broadband is a game changer in the province.<\/p>\n
In July 2014, the Western Cape signed a R2.89-billion, 10-year contract with the State Information and Technology Agency (SITA) and Neotel to connect over 1,900 public buildings to high-speed broadband.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working together very well in partnership to roll out a public-private partnership that will have a catalytic impact on the growth of our economy,\u201d said Zille.<\/p>\n
She said infrastructure at over 1,000 sites has been completed, consisting of either wireless or fibre optic cable. Broadband services have been activated at over 900 of these sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cA total of 692 schools have been connected to date, as well as 92 libraries and 169 corporate sites.\u201d<\/p>\n
The broadband services offered range between 10Mbps and 1Gbps, and are backed by corporate-grade service level agreements.<\/p>\n
Further key milestones include the establishment of a separate Schools Network, as well as a Libraries Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe uptake of the Internet capability within schools has been nothing short of astounding.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the Schools Network has served over 377 million pages, and delivered over 17TB of information to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn interesting phenomenon has been the extent to which the Internet capability at schools has been complemented by the Internet capability at libraries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Usage at libraries increases dramatically once learners leave the school premises and use the Internet at the local library.<\/p>\n
To date, this network has served over 59 million pages and 2.5TB of information.<\/p>\n
Leveraging off the broadband capability is a managed email and calendaring solution for schools, which will be fully operational within the next 3 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn March, we are launching the first 50 of over 380 public Wi-fi hotspots where citizens can access limited free Wi-fi. This is also in partnership with Neotel,\u201d said Zille.<\/p>\n
To date, SITA has invested approximately R315 million in the broadband programme, and Neotel has invested R186 million.<\/p>\n
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