Fibre ring to connect Cape Town

The Cape Town metro ring is a municipal fibre network providing a single shared infrastructure capable of supporting multiple networks. It's expected to result in more local bandwidth and lower costs due to increased competition between ISPs.

What is the metro ring?

The metro ring is a municipally-owned, open access, optic fibre infrastructure, including purpose-built optic fibre and new switching centres. Phase 1 of the project, completed in December 2011, had a capital budget of R125m and includes 500km of fibre.

Also included is a metro area MPLS and VoIP communications network. The initial plan is to link 60 city buildings to the internet and one another at 16Gbps. The current average for the metro is 0.3Mbps.

Why is this needed?

The City is currently paying a very high price for very little bandwidth between very few buildings. The new network will contain those costs, and will also reduce voice call costs between City buildings.

The City's investment also means that there will be shared infrastructure available to commercial network operators at minimal incremental cost.

What this means for network operators

Electronic Communication Service (ECS) and Electronic Communication Network Service (ECNS) licence holders can rent fibre, connect their own fibre, rent rack space in the switching centres, and buy 100Mbps or 16Mbps circuits between switching areas.

The City is not providing internet connections or services to end users; the idea is to work alongside ISPs and telcos, not compete with them.

What about consumers?

The project will allow new players to enter the industry with less capital. More service providers means lower costs for consumers, and because none of these companies can own the infrastructure, they will need to compete on their services instead. Growth in this industry space will also mean more businesses employing more people.

Ultimately, the goal is to have one network connecting all buildings and serving all municipal needs. As buildings are added to the network, areas that are currently poorly served will be connected with fibre. If all goes according to plan, Cape Town could eventually become one of the most connected cities in Africa.