In May 2014, Parkhurst in Johannesburg took its broadband future into its own hands when it announced it had put out a request for proposals for infrastructure providers to build a fibre network in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
Vumatel won the bid, and the first house in Parkhurst\u2019s fibre-to-the-home network went live in\u00a0October 2014.<\/p>\n
Other suburbs and residential estates copied\u00a0Parkhurst\u2019s idea and launched similar bidding processes for fibre infrastructure in their areas.<\/p>\n
While the formula for getting the interest of fibre providers seems straight-forward, executing it is often not that easy.<\/p>\n
To find out what home owners\u2019 associations and body corporates should do to ensure they attract the attention of network companies, we asked Vumatel for advice.<\/p>\n
Vumatel said it has launched an online portal that lets residents of suburbs it plans to target next express their interest in fibre broadband.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we have identified the neighbourhoods we are targeting in the short term and it tracks the relevant neighbourhood\u2019s progress relative to other suburbs,\u201d said Vumatel.<\/p>\n
Vumatel is not the only company to launch a portal through which people can register their interest for FTTH. Other examples include Metrofibre Networx, Cybersmart, and Telkom:<\/p>\n
For those who aren\u2019t on an infrastructure provider\u2019s short-term roadmap, the best bet is to survey their neighbourhood to establish how many residents are interested in fibre broadband and what they are willing to pay.<\/p>\n
Typical questions include:<\/p>\n
Results should be compiled into graphs and tables and included in the request for proposals that are sent to network infrastructure companies.<\/p>\n
Vumatel said it is willing to offer assistance to suburbs which aren\u2019t included in its short-term plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can always contact us at info@vumatel.co.za<\/strong> to express their interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Which neighbourhoods have the highest average download speed<\/a><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s ADSL and Fibre prices: are we really behind the rest of the world?<\/a><\/p>\n Best as well as Worst ADSL and VDSL ISPs in South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThis article originally appeared on MyBroadband<\/a> and is republished with permission.<\/h4>\n
In other local broadband news<\/strong><\/h3>\n