Joburg shortlists Broadband partners
To News Editors
No Embargo
15 October 2007
Joburg shortlists Broadband partners
After a thorough review of twenty-five responses submitted, the City of Joburg has, with the support and guidance of its Supply Chain Management Department, selected a shortened list of eleven respondents for its broadband network project.
The eleven respondents are: Goal Technology Solutions, Altech, Neology, Transtel, MTN, Dimension Data, Vodacom, Ericcson, Telkom, Mweb/Tellumat and Sentech. They will soon engage in the final component of the requirements through a practical demonstration of the technical solution they have to offer.
“We now need to assess, whether or not the providers can deliver both technically and practically on what they promised to us on paper i.e. True Broadband as per their respective responses to the RFI Technical Terms of Reference” says Jabulani Zimu, Programme Manager in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at Joburg City.
The City of Johannesburg has committed to the development of a citywide broadband network in line with international trends in municipal broadband deployment. This project aims to primarily build a strong ICT infrastructure for the City as well as to bring ICT closer to the citizens at a cost effective price, by selling off spare capacity.
To achieve this, the City embarked on a two-stage bidding process to determine a suitable partner to assist in building, operating and managing the proposed network. The bidding process firstly involved the City issuing a Request For Information (RFI) in February 2007.
In the forthcoming months, the Joburg City will work closely with and evaluate each of the respondents in their planning, design, implementation and operational stages of the practical demonstration. Only those who meet the criteria will subsequently be invited to respond to the Request for Proposal, which forms the second stage of the two-stage bidding process and will result in the selection of a successful partner or partners. The City is targeting the first quarter of 2008 to issue the final Request for Proposal.
The City of Joburg regards access to broadband as a key driver of economic growth and wealth generation, which means that it is essential that all the citizens of Joburg gain access to universally available, reliable and affordable broadband.
The international trend of Municipal Broadband represents an opportunity for all cities, particularly Johannesburg, to increase and accelerate access to the benefits of Internet-based communication services as well as reduce government own costs and improve service delivery.
From the outset, the City has focused its efforts in finding a partner who not only has the technical and commercial credentials to deliver on an initiative of this magnitude but also supports the balanced and shared rollout the City of Joburg requires to increase and accelerate universal affordable broadband access.
Issued on behalf of Councillor Parks Tau
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance and Economic Development
By
Virgil James
Communications Specialist
City of Joburg
011 407 7226
082 467 9415
