Optic fibre seminar offers international perspective

One of the major stumbling blocks in communication in South Africa is access to optic fibre telecommunication distribution points, particularly for last-mile connections supporting voice, data and television services.

Open-access, optical fibre infrastructures, capable of supporting data transfer at super-fast speeds, will allow service providers to offer both residential and business customers a wider range of service bundles - such as HDTV, broadband, IPTV, VoIP, etc. It is an area presenting huge opportunities, particularly with new property developments (fibre-to-the-home or fibre-to-the-business) where provision for bundled services could be costed in as part of the overall project.

FOA will be supported by sponsorship from local companies Datanet Infrastructure Group and Triple Play Fibre Optic Solutions.

"This will be an opportunity to see how fibre optics is being used around the world for traditional cabled telecoms systems as well as allowing for the expansion of wireless systems. We will highlight how fibre allows computer networks to work at higher speeds with greater security and how fibre is being used to make utilities more efficient," says FOA president, Jim Hayes, who will be speaking at the seminar.

Joe Botha, co-owner of Triple Play, adds, "Local telecom service providers, looking for long-term success in this competitive marketplace, will view the deployment of these services as key."

For more information on the seminar, contact Nadia Genis on +27 (0)21 529 9500 or email az.oc.tenatad@gaidan.