THE Richards Bay Central Business District is lighting up with fibre optics to speed up internet connectivity in the city.
uMhlathuze is the first non-metro chosen for the national long distance fibre project launched in October last year.
Telecommunications provider Vox has already completed installations in three precincts – between Lira Link and Premium Promenade, Bullion Boulevard through to Rupee Rif, and Bullion Boulevard through to Dollar Drive.
Delivering service to the remaining 15 precincts across town is expected to be completed within 18 months.
Fibre optic uses flexible glass fibres that transmit data at much higher speeds than electric cabling and is preferred for high bandwidth, long distance, and its immunity to electromagnetic interference.
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Vox CEO Jacques du Toit said Richards Bay’s thriving industrial and mining sector, combined with the harbour, met the key criteria required to build a business case for fibre infrastructure investment, one that becomes the starting point of a long distance fibre initiative.
‘It is one thing creating the infrastructure and another connecting Richards Bay to other cities.
‘We evaluated our options and could easily have gone via Durban or Ballito.
‘But the route along the eastern leg of the country along the N4 seemed the best option, enabling us to deliver a better connectivity experience to the smaller towns along the route,’ said Du Toit.
Vox has so far engaged with more than 440 customers and signed up over R662 000 in fibre sales.
Du Toit said the stable and high speed internet will enable local businesses to compete with larger market players.
‘Businesses can now become more efficient and effective as the implementation of these internet services provides a platform or gateway for smaller business to leverage the cloud based technologies, which were traditionally not available owing to speed and bandwidth constraints.
‘An increase in speed and bandwidth also enables employees to more effectively communicate with each other, which sparks a collaborative way of thinking, making the business more efficient, reducing overall operational costs and allowing for more opportunities to be explored owing to the reduced time taken to complete existing projects.’
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