LAST year uMhlanga was thrust into the future with the introduction of free Wi-Fi along Chartwell Drive.
Now the plush residential area, along with its neighbour, La Lucia, will be one of the first suburbs to receive fibre internet connections, peaking at 1G/s (one gigabit per second).
The project will be rolled out by a Bulgarian fibre-to-the-home operator, 123 Internetworks (123NET). Through the project the company will also provide residents and businesses with a 5Mbit/s (five megabit per second) broadband connection free of charge.
By working with the government and municipalities, the company hopes to provide their services to Durban, the greater KwaZulu-Natal and ideally to the whole of South Africa.
According to 123Net’s CEO, Kalin Bogatzevski, the aim of the project is bridge the gap between international and South African internet speeds and costs.
“A 1G/s network is normal around the world, but South Africa is behind. Bulgaria has one of the fastest and cheapest broadband internet services in the world. So, we decided to come to Durban to set up a network here. We have brought our technology, including software and hardware, to help,” he said.
Bogatzevski added that Durban was one of the most developed cities in the world, and therefore it made sense to launch the project here.