SA needs to maximise fibre optic use
The growth of traffic on optics networks will contribute to an increase in demand for high-bandwidth products, says Convergence Partners.
According to founder and chairman of the company, the growth of the networks will drive bandwidth growth and in turn contribute to the growing demand for bandwidth consuming content, like HD and 3D video, social networking, music, video conferencing and other multimedia.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by Datanet Infrastructure Group in conjunction with the international Fibre Optic Association (FOA) and Triple Play Fibre Optic Solutions, Ngcaba said connectivity in communications is becoming paramount and the economics are going to change as connectivity increases.
“Content and applications will be king and high-speed fibre optics will create an environment very different from that existing today. We are seeing a new world of multimedia emerge - a world filled with many more screens and content,” Ngcaba explained.
To demonstrate the scale of expected change, he said that by 2016, over 900-million mobile phones will be operational in Africa. According Datanet, SA rates 23rd in the world in terms of tweeting volumes and 28th in the world on Facebook.
Cape Town is the top local city for tweeting volumes, followed by Johannesburg, followed by East London.
He added that while African operators are continuing to build new backhaul routes to submarine cable landing points to deliver greater bandwidth to cities and towns inland from the coast, the benefit is not yet being seen in the home.
“Long haul FO links need to be taken to the centres of major cities and towns and then deployed to the ‘last mile’ so that homes can be connected. To achieve this we must continue to engage with the relevant authorities through the formal channels available in order to ensure we maximise the deployment and uptake of FO,” he said.