FibreCo and Teraco: open access critical to development of ICT in Africa

22 Oct 2015

The third Open Access ICT networking event, hosted by vendor-neutral data centre, Teraco and independent fibre network operator, FibreCo, will take place in Cape Town at the Two Oceans Aquarium on Wednesday 18 November. The "by invitation only" event will pull together the industry's C-level executives from across Africa to discuss open access and the future of sub-Saharan Africa in the global ICT landscape.

Lex van Wyk, CEO, Teraco

Lex van Wyk, CEO, Teraco says the open access conversation is critical: "Since the mid 2000's ICT organisations have been discussing the importance and the determinant role of infrastructure sharing in the development of ICT markets in Africa. Unfortunately, it has not been enough and while it led to many organisations working on the concept, the reality is that the open access approach has not been fully embraced, nor is it completely understood."

Van Wyk says the reality is that shared infrastructure is a significant enabling mechanism to stimulate broadband access in South Africa: "If sub-Saharan Africa wants to ensure its competitiveness, we need to be decisive and have a clear-cut plan to fully embrace and utilise an open access approach."

Arif Hussain, CEO, FibreCo says "the open access model allows all enterprises and service providers to benefit from the cost efficiencies and bespoke service levels previously available only to incumbent operators. This aggregation of demand provides the incentive for FibreCo and Teraco to invest further in extending their infrastructure" He says that if ICT players want to keep up with rapidly growing demand, open access is a key consideration and also makes sense when trying to deploy next generation fibre networks quickly and affordably in rural and underserved parts of the country.

A platform for dialogue and discussion

The Open Access event will take place in Cape Town during the annual ICT gathering alongside the Global Carrier Community Meeting (16-17 November) and AfricaCom (17-19 November), and aims to literally open the door to key ICT delegates and create a neutral platform for dialogue and discussion. The Open Access event is a great opportunity for ICT players to meet and collaborate in a relaxed and informal environment, providing an excellent opportunity to foster and hopefully grow the open access movement.

2014 Open Access event was a huge success with over 840 delegates attending from 32 different countries representing over 350 organisations. FibreCo and Teraco look forward to another successful networking event this year and more importantly, hope that the open access movement will gain momentum and become more of a reality in 2016.