Parkhurst gets everyone’s attention

This is according to Parkhurst’s fibre pioneer, Ryan Hawthorne.

The village of Parkhurst has gotten quite a bit of attention from other suburbs in the country and as well as telecommunications companies after it announced its plans to roll out fibre to its residents.

Hawthorne, a 34-year-old economist, has been the driving force in making this become a reality.

For those who are technologically-challenged, understanding the concepts of connectivity, broadband and link-speed may not be an easy task but Hawthorne managed to simplify it so that anyone can understand the benefits of rolling out fibre broadband to all homes and businesses in Parkhurst.

In an interview with The Gazette the economist used simple family situations to explain how residents would benefit from this bold move.

“Have you ever tried to skype your loved one living in the states and somewhere during the conversation you can still see him but he says he can’t see you,” asked Hawthorne?

“This is because South Africa has one of the poorest broadband speeds in the world.”

He added, “Thirty-two percent of the our respondents are people who work from home and if a faster and an uninterrupted network can keep people working in their suburb then it will subsequently benefit the local economy.”

Hawthorne believes keeping people in the suburb means they will look to their local businesses for services and products rather than “making a stop” somewhere closer to their workplace.

Although the City of Joburg plans on introducing wifi at certain spots in the city, Hawthorne explained how offering wifi was not the solution to faster broadband speed.

He explained that all wireless network is shared, and that this was why, most of the times, the network is conjested.

“Fibre network is not shared. Because it is a dedicated network it is much steadier and reliable,” he emphasised.

“Telkom has presented us their ideas, probably because 85 percent of the residents in our suburb are on the network.”

Hawthorne encouraged all residents to get involved and participate in what could be the boldest move any suburb has made.

Having seen the interest that has come from the public, Hawthorne advised suburbs interested in adopting the same concept to call fibre optic guru Juanita Clark.

Details: Juanita Clark 082 418 1441 or juanita