Fibre roll-out for SA townships

Thousands of people in a South African township now have access to fast, affordable fibre internet.

As part of its initiative to provide fibre to 150 000 homes in townships by March 2025, pay-as-you-go provider Fibertime is celebrating connecting 6 500 homes in Kayamandi, near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.

In association with its parters, Nokia, Liquid Intelligent Technologies and others, the company now plans to expand fibre services to Mfuleni and Kraaifontein in the Western Cape, KwaNobuhle in the Northern Cape, and Rustenburg in the North West, reports ITWeb.

James Devine, co-founder and CTO of Fibertime, says the company has been connecting homes in Kayamandi at a rate of 100 to 200 a day since the success of a pilot study involving 1 000 homes in the township last year.

Households are provided with free installation and router, as well as vouchers available in increments of R5 for 24 hours of 100 Mbps uncapped internet. Battery back-up is also provided in case of load shedding.

Each household connection can also provide connectivity to informal structures nearby.