October 8, 2007
By Emily Visser
DIGITAL cities and municipal broadband networks were the order of the day at the BMI-T Digital Cities Forum.
Taking place at Gallagher Estate, Midrand on 4 and 5 October, more than 200 delegates heard presentations on the way forward for digital cities and the challenges around rolling out municipal broadband networks.
The conference came at the right time: Johannesburg is ready to roll-out the first of its 11 trial broadband networks, the first steps on the path towards becoming a digital city.
Partner in the process is Neotel, the official second national telecommunications network operator. Speaking on day two of the forum, Angus Hay, the executive head of strategy and products at Neotel, said the company would focus on optimising the fibre-optic network infrastructure to metros. "Our focus is on the metros."
The 2007 BMI-T Digital Cities Forum was held at Gallagher Estate, Midrand on 4 and 5 October
But he cautioned that municipalities played a crucial role in facilitating the deployment of new infrastructure, with smart digital towns "strongly encouraging high-tech companies to invest in their cities". Public investment alone would not do it; what was needed was real, vibrant competition.
Of particular interest was the progress of the Johannesburg broadband network.
The citywide roll-out of such a network was discussed by Jabulani Zimu, the programme manager for the City's chief information officer, which is driving the broadband roll-out, and Peter Ford, the internet business solutions director for Cisco Systems in the United Kingdom.
Setting the benchmark for other metros, the Joburg network would also benefit surrounding cities Ekurhuleni, Mogale City and Tshwane. The wide area network (WAN) would provide six megabites per second, "ensuring even our neighbours benefit", Zimu confirmed.
Smart citizens
Zimu said the City had a political mandate to focus firstly on delivering quality services to its residents. "Our agenda is service delivery. Citizens need to have access to infrastructure to achieve quality of life; we believe broadband can do this."
The Joburg-wide broadband network, however, would take the City well beyond its historical core business of service delivery.
Ford confirmed that it was now a widely accepted belief among governments that improved communications and connectivity would help countries to achieve greater productivity and growth.
Some of the benefits Joburgers could look forward to were an enabling environment in which residents would become smart citizens, with affordable access to the internet and eservices. "The citywide broadband will enable faster and increased revenue collection, faster and improved service delivery and reduced cost of service delivery."
Project Phakama, which looks at improving the total value chain of revenue collection and customer relations through one interface, was a sub-project of the broadband network, Zimu confirmed, adding, "We are revamping this process."
Policing would also benefit from the network, ensuring law enforcement infrastructure and applications were up to international standards. For one, through the network the eNatis system would be integrated with the South African Police Service.
The network will provide a minimum of 1,2 terabits a second of municipal core bandwidth and bring with it wifi (wireless technology); wimax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access), which provides wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways; FTTP (fibre to the premises) technology, which provides bandwidth, speed and an array of new services called FiOS: super-fast, high-speed internet access, crystal-clear voice and a full-suite of video services; and lastly, power line communications.
Trial networks
Once in place, use of the high speed network would not be free, but it would not be exorbitant either, Zimu promised. "We still need to look into the pricing model some more."
Questions were raised from the floor about the capability of the city to access 11 trial networks, with Zimu replying that technology was complex. The trial networks would allow the City to examine the mini networks being operated by the trial service providers, to see whether they could indeed provide what they said they could. "[We are saying], show us how you will deliver this. It gives us the opportunity to see this on the ground."
The City had the capacity, but not all of it, confirmed Zimu, promising that it should achieve its vision. "End to end we still have challenges."
Ford pointed out that trial networks formed only a small part of the overall deliverables, with services, applications and content management also coming into play. "I don't think any city has all it needs at the start of such a process."
He predicted that in the future digital cities would radically outpace their analogue peers; he spoke of Kuwait City, where building codes now required new buildings to have access to broadband built into the infrastructure. "They see it as equally important as access to electricity, water."
New generation networks (NGNs) are the foundation linking all parts of the economy - the citizens, the business and the private sector. "It is an enabler of country competitiveness and economic development," Ford concluded.
The two-day forum also touched on broadband pricing, which is dropping sharply, business models for digital cities, and the legal framework within which networks must operate.
This was the third such forum; previously focus has been on the concepts and motives behind these initiatives. This year's forum focused clearly on commissioning and building these networks in practice.
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