Last year, Guardian & Mail reported that the Knysna municipality works to build a network of Wi-Fl Uninet blanket the entire area of the city in an effort to provide affordable voice and broadband services to residents, businesses and government offices.
UniNets David Jarvis says the company to provide broadband services to residents of Knysna, but the voice service has been stopped for failure to interconnection agreement with Telkom, which will allow citizens to make and receive calls outside Knysna.
Knysna's uncapped residents can buy a broadband package from Uninet that among the various R255 and R800, depending on nedladdningshastighet required.
Jarvis said the ministry has been about providing for several months and have had little more than 200 clients. Major marketing campaign is planned for next year to attract more customers.
UniNet also provides wireless hot spots Around Knysna where residents get free internet service [http://www.storm.co.za/internetaccess.q]. Jarvis said it is set to change: residents will get free 45 minutes every day and pay for the use of this repeatedly.
After the interconnection agreement with Telkom ironed out, residents can expect Knysnas their first 100 minutes of free local calls, and 50% reduction in mobile phone call rates and 10% to 15% reduction in long distance call tariffs landlines Telkom.
Jarvis said the agreement signed last ITel Uninet and services offered Knysna equivalent to the entire OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape will accelerate the interconnection agreement. He hoped it would be given voice service in February next year.
Broadband in the City of Gold
Johannesburg is also planning to provide broadband services using the network backbone, but the service likely to reach customers before 2008.
The city s economic development, tourism and marketing department who heads the project, said project consultant Douglas Cohen. Is the lame would jump has taken a big political buy-in, and mayoral committee approved the project in October and agreed to establish a subcommittee of the project and the mayor's office.
Cohen says that early next year will be issued a proposal request and, after the implementation plan has been prepared, and tenders will be issued. We're on the road now, he said.
However, some analysts and stakeholders argue that tepe bureaucracy and lack of political help is an effort to bring services to urban residents and businesses.
Dave Gale, who is head of business development for telecom operators Storm, said the conflict between municipal departments, which work together in projects like this, has become a headache. Just damn wheels turn so slowly, he said. You have to get people to move in a real world speed LTL Telekom. These people have great wealth and opportunity to use these resources, but they did not see the urgency of their t run. Or if they are hindered by the lack of political will. I do not think they ve missed the boat, but I do not think they come back -- hope telecommunications either, says Gale.
Cohen says there will always be a role to play because the city will always be under the Serviced.
Robert Lipschitz from Genesis Analytics says as long as broadband prices remain high there will be room for the same quality care at low cost, but it was up to the city to prove that they have the ability to do the job.
