Question NW4187 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Reply:

The following response is based on the information provided by four Metropolitan Municipalities: City of Cape Town, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni and Mangaung. The remaining four Metropolitan Municipalities, Buffalo City, City of Joburg, City of Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay did not meet the deadline for submission of responses. Attempts are being made to obtain the information from the outstanding Metropolitan Municipalities and will be made available on receipt thereof.

Hereunder are the responses from the responded Metropolitan Municipalities.

Reply by City of Cape Town

(1) "Total number of core fibres installed is 43 541km

(2) Digital Inclusion Project: In 2013 the City of Cape Town undertook a six month investigation followed by a proof of concept study into assessing the constraints, viability and potential uptake of a wireless mesh network in both Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.

This study was funded to the value of $335 000 USO by the United States Trade and Development Agency. Our findings were later published and resultantly led to the roll out of the City's Wi-Fi Network which went beyond the two initial areas assessed for viability and which now boasts 188 AP's throughout the metro. The manner in which the project implementation materialised was indeed different to the initial objective in that it proved difficult to provide pole-to-home access by means of a mesh. Hence, we went with the AP's attached to Civic infrastructure model. The project has now progressed nicely.

The City of Cape Town's model around providing Wi-Fi access differs quite substantially to other metro's in the manner in which we provide both access and how we offer data to citizens. Our objective first and foremost is that our model is sustainable. It thus differs from what other South African metros are doing- which is most often outsourcing the service to companies that leverage from one site to pay for the next. The City is also exploring the feasibility of offering free Wi-Fi on the fleet of MyCiTi buses. A tender to contract with a service provider was evaluated in September and is now awaiting consideration for award by the Supply Chain Management Bid Adjudication Committee. This requires the appointed service provider to offer internet access to passengers at no cost to the City. "

Reply by eThekwini Metro

(1) "EThekwini has a broadband network in place and we have approximately 1650km of Fibre deployed already.

(2) We currently have over 80% of our Municipal Libraries offering patrons free Internet access through Wi-Fi and we are currently investigating the different models on how to expand this and provide Wi-Fi to the city's residents and visitors. This is to ensure that whatever route we take has been fully considered to take into account the broader objectives of becoming a smart city. "

Reply by Ekurhuleni Metro

(1) "Ekurhuleni is currently installing a broadband network. Ekurhuleni currently has 400km of fibre active, and the long term plan requires 1336km. The additional fibre required to complete the connectivity profile is expected to be implemented over the next 18 months.

(2) Ekurhuleni has active Wi-Fi hotspots. Ekurhuleni has approximately 900 hotspots active at present orientated around 160 sites. Future plans - Expansion to approximately 3000 hotspots in planned over the next 18 months. "

Reply by Mangaung Metro

(1) "The Metro is currently finalizing a broadband implementation model benchmarked against the City of EThekwini, whilst there a plans to roll out a broadband network, it is still in its initial phases and hasn't started.

(2) The Metro is currently in the process of planning for free Wi-Fi rollout within the Metro with an initial 42 sites to be identified. The project is expected to

begin implementation by March 2016."

Herewith a reply recommended by:

MR. T Faba
Deputy Director-General Corporate Services
Date: 11/12/2015