City of Cape Town
Broadband Project
Municipal networks and the growth of the
Internet
Leon Van Wyk
Manager: Telecommunications
City of Cape Town
September 2010
What is a municipal network?
Telecommunications network built to service a
specific city or region
Single shared infrastructure capable of supporting
multiple networks
Usually operated on an ‘open access’ basis
Basic infrastructure required to support economic
development
Affordable bandwidth is frequently cited as one of the main factors
supporting investment and economic growth
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
What?
Municipally owned, open access, optic fibre
infrastructure
New, purpose built optic fibre and switching centres
Phase 1 - R125m capital project (±3% of Cape Town Stadium budget);
500km of fibre
Metro area MPLS and VoIP communications network
Initially link 60 City buildings with each other and the Internet at 1Gbps
(currently averages 0.3Mbps)
Dark fibre and Metro Ethernet for third-party use
Due for completion December 2010
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
Why?
Contain telecommunications costs
Currently pay a high cost for very little bandwidth between very few
buildings
Reduce voice call costs between City buildings
Improve the standard of service delivery
More bandwidth to more places, allowing greater use of centralised
applications and facilities (e.g. SAP ERP, GIS)
Encourage local economic development
Shared infrastructure for commercial network operators at minimal
incremental cost
Leverage City’s investment
Avoid unnecessary trenching, and provide alternative where no
physical space is available
Phase 1 Build
Phase 1 CBD Build
Gallows Hill
Switching Center
Keller House
Switching Center
Melkbosstrand
Full planned
network
(phases 1 – 3)
Durbanville
Cape Town
CBD
Rosebank
Bellville
Athlone
Newlands
Stellenbosch
Houtbaai
Plumstead
Muizenberg
Mitchells
Plain
Khayelitsha
Simonstad
Strand
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
What is being made available?
ECS and ECNS license holders can:
Rent unlit fibre pairs between switching centres
Rent fibre from any fibre distribution point to any nearby building
(up to 300m, subject to viability)
Connect their own fibre to a switching centre
Rent unlit fibre on a cross-connect ring to the exchanges of the
national networks
Rent rack space in switching centres for transmission equipment
Buy 100Mbps or 1Gpbs circuits between switching centres
The City is not providing Internet transit or offering
services to end users
Intent is to support ISPs and telcos, not compete with them
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
How will Cape Town benefit?
Several independent network operators sharing
the same fibre infrastructure
More service providers
Reduce the capex barrier that limits competition
Encourage competition based on services rather than ownership of
infrastructure
More local bandwidth
Lower costs
More competitive businesses that will employ
more people
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
What does it cost?
Unlit fibre between switching centres averages R2.40/pair/metre/month
Unlit access fibre to buildings will cost up to R70,000 to install (≤300m)
and R3.00/pair/metre/month thereafter
Rack space
Half rack (21U): R4,030/month
Full rack (43U): R7,820 (1.5kW) or R10,040 (6kW)
Cross-connect rings: R11,400/pair/month, or R22,800/pair/month with
full redundancy
Ethernet ‘circuits’ between switching centres
100Mbps: ± R61/Mbps e.g. Cape Town – Bellville R7,659
1Gbps: ± R30/Mbps e.g. Cape Town – Bellville R38,295
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
The future
One municipal network connecting all buildings and
serving all department needs
As we connect more City buildings we will lay more
fibre throughout Cape Town, including poorly served
areas
Build more switching centres, to both serve the City’s
needs and to stimulate economic development
Become a trusted provider of telecommunications
infrastructure
Cape Town will become one of the most connected
cities in Africa
Cape Town Broadband Infrastructure Project
Leon Van Wyk
leon.vanwyk@capetown.gov.za