FibreCo targets coastal network

FibreCo is targeting the rollout of a fibre optic network linking Cape Town and Durban via Nelson Mandela Bay and East London, for later this year.

The ICT infrastructure group is a joint venture between Cell C, Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions.

The group said it arrived in Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, this week to interview potential candidates for its internationally accredited Fibre Optic Training Programme.

FibreCo Telecommunications will train up 25 industry technicians in the Nelson Mandela Bay region.

FibreCo said it has so far trained up 50 technicians – 30 in Bloemfontein and 20 in East London earlier this year, while 15 graduates have been absorbed by the company as interns.

In November 2013, the company said it completed half of the first phase of its fibre project, lighting up over 2,400 km of cabling linking Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and East London.

It said that upon completion of the first phase, by 2016, with Cape Town and Durban linked via the Bay and East London, about 5,000km of state-of-the-art fibre optic cabling will have been laid across the country.

FibreCo said that its month-long training programme, in partnership with the Seda Nelson Mandela Bay ICT Incubator (SNII), will offer trainees globally accepted ICT accreditation and equip them to be able to maintain and repair complex fibre optic networks locally or abroad.

On completion of the training the technicians will be involved during the construction and maintenance of the network.

“Phase 1 of the project will create over 2,300 direct and indirect jobs. Phase 2 will feature additional routes to the Western Cape, the Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, as well as the borders of Botswana and Mozambique,” FibreCo said.

The company has long-term telecommunications contracts with Tier 1 carriers including BT, Internet Solutions, Cell C and has entered into a strategic partnership with MTN, it said.