Connecting Africa is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Ultra-Broadband

Altron Lands Limpopo Fiber Broadband Network Rollout Deal

Article Image
Limpopo Connexion, on behalf of the Limpopo Provincial Government, has awarded a 585 million Rand (US$50.2 million) deal to Altron (Allied Electronics Corp.) to construct an open access broadband network infrastructure across South Africa’s most northerly province.

The company's Altech Radio Holdings (ARH) division will connect government departments, municipalities, businesses and households across the province during the next three years. ARH is also tasked with providing a network operations center, a control center and data center facilities.

"It is a priority of government's National Development Plan to connect all South Africans to broadband infrastructure," stated Brett Nash, Managing Director of ARH. "Broadband is an economic enabler, and the South African government has identified the need to invest in information communication technologies, including broadband infrastructure, to support economic growth, development and social cohesion," he added.

The Limpopo province includes areas of outstanding natural beauty.
The Limpopo province includes areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Baldwin Ramasobane, acting CEO at Limpopo Connexion, noted that the resulting broadband network would reduce operating costs for the local government and industry and be the foundation for enabling e-services in the province.

"The broadband project is one of the technology developments in the province which is ushering in the province's knowledge economy industry to help modernise the provincial economy and create employment opportunities," stated Ramasobane. "Limpopo Connexion is contributing to bridging the digital divide and reducing poverty through implementation of ICT, as these types of developments improve service delivery by government departments. We are pursuing innovative and people-centric investments and assisting with employment creation, promoting economic development, and helping to create new technology businesses that develop key clusters through knowledge creation, transfer and exploitation. The project will further assist the province in participating in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and emergent disruptive technologies by developing skills for the economy, and incubation programmes through the planned science and technology park," he added.

ARH has experience of such projects. It has already completed a " build and transfer" broadband network rollout in the province of Gauteng (which has Pretoria as its capital), which, according to ARH, connects "more than 400 buildings, 45 community service centres (Thusong Centres), 20 identified priority townships, nine Economic Development Zones, six urban renewal nodes and several hundred schools." In addition, ARH is currently "in a joint partnership to design, deploy, maintain, and operate a citywide backbone broadband network for the City of Tshwane," the company notes.

Such projects are vital to bridging the ICT divide across the country. According to the findings of a report by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, in 2015 "only 53.5% of South African households had one member who had access to the Internet, either at home, their workplace, place of study or an Internet café."

— The staff, Connecting Africa

Innovation hub

Story

Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's Tech Herfrica

Connecting Africa's hot startup is Nigeria's Tech Herfrica, a social impact organization that focuses on the digital and financial inclusion of women and girls in rural areas of Nigeria.

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Innovation hub

Latest video

More videos

Partner perspectives

All Partner Perspectives

Sponsored video

More videos

Industry announcements

More Industry announcements

Upcoming events

Africa Tech Festival 2024
November 11-14, 2024
Cape Town, South Africa
More Upcoming events

Africa Tech Perspectives

Story

Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa

Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.

Story

The 100 most influential African leaders in 2023

A new report from Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa puts a spotlight on the top 100 African leaders in the telecoms and technology sector in 2023.

Story

Deep dive into East Africa's tech startup ecosystem

New survey reveals a lack of access to investors, reliance on international VCs and global recession trends as the biggest barriers for East African tech startups to access funds.

More Africa Tech perspectives

Guest Perspectives

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Omdia View: January 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Guest Perspectives

Like us on Facebook

Newsletter Sign Up


Sign Up
Tag id test-002