Johannesburg - Government is improving its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to deliver efficient services ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
On Wednesday, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi announced a Next Generation Network (NGN) would replace the current Government Common Core Network (GCCN).
"Deploying NGN services and enhancing the transmission capacity of the GCCN augurs well for the improved government service delivery as the country gears up for 2010," she said.
Currently, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) provides data services to the three spheres of government via GCCN, introduced in 2002.
NGN is the largest deployment of network services in Sub-Saharan Africa in the public sector.
It will increase its capacity from 360 to 700 megabytes.
The minister explained that the current network is the single, physical and "fully redundant" wide area network infrastructure consisting of routers, switches, firewalls and data lines that services government.
Between the GCCN's introduction in 2002 and 2006, the minister said, the core capacity requirements on GCCN grew by 150 percents year-on year, saying that there were no major bandwidth upgrades until now.
"While this infrastructure was built to support a diverse range of services such voice video, data and multi-media, it requires further investment to upgrade the network to provide value added services," Minister Fraser-Moleketi said.
The new project's total investment is worth R454 million over a five year period.
SITA has also partnered with the country's second national telecommunications operator, Neotel to provide national backbone transmission services to support the new NGN.
"As a new player in the South African telecommunications space, Neotel is able to bring the latest technology to the market and greater flexibility
"This means that, SITA on behalf of government can access additional capacity, as and when it is required at the reduced cost," she said.
She added that utilising Neotel, SITA would ensure that cheaper telecommunications for government becomes a reality.
"The deal provides an important impetus for enhanced competition and growth of the telecommunications market, and in turn the economy," she said.
The Neotel's deal, the minister said translated to 8.5 times less than the next closest offer, saying it was a demonstration of effective competition which reduces the cost of doing business in the country.
More importantly, while the Neotel's high capacity links will connect SITA's key sites to major cities and towns, it would also look at the rural communities.
The NGN would also enable government to improve service delivery through the e-government initiatives.
They include amongst others: e-Education via Further Education and Training (FET), Telemedicine through the e-Health projects, connectivity at the Thusong Service Centres also known as the Multi-Purpose Centres
On Wednesday, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi announced a Next Generation Network (NGN) would replace the current Government Common Core Network (GCCN).
"Deploying NGN services and enhancing the transmission capacity of the GCCN augurs well for the improved government service delivery as the country gears up for 2010," she said.
Currently, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) provides data services to the three spheres of government via GCCN, introduced in 2002.
NGN is the largest deployment of network services in Sub-Saharan Africa in the public sector.
It will increase its capacity from 360 to 700 megabytes.
The minister explained that the current network is the single, physical and "fully redundant" wide area network infrastructure consisting of routers, switches, firewalls and data lines that services government.
Between the GCCN's introduction in 2002 and 2006, the minister said, the core capacity requirements on GCCN grew by 150 percents year-on year, saying that there were no major bandwidth upgrades until now.
"While this infrastructure was built to support a diverse range of services such voice video, data and multi-media, it requires further investment to upgrade the network to provide value added services," Minister Fraser-Moleketi said.
The new project's total investment is worth R454 million over a five year period.
SITA has also partnered with the country's second national telecommunications operator, Neotel to provide national backbone transmission services to support the new NGN.
"As a new player in the South African telecommunications space, Neotel is able to bring the latest technology to the market and greater flexibility
"This means that, SITA on behalf of government can access additional capacity, as and when it is required at the reduced cost," she said.
She added that utilising Neotel, SITA would ensure that cheaper telecommunications for government becomes a reality.
"The deal provides an important impetus for enhanced competition and growth of the telecommunications market, and in turn the economy," she said.
The Neotel's deal, the minister said translated to 8.5 times less than the next closest offer, saying it was a demonstration of effective competition which reduces the cost of doing business in the country.
More importantly, while the Neotel's high capacity links will connect SITA's key sites to major cities and towns, it would also look at the rural communities.
The NGN would also enable government to improve service delivery through the e-government initiatives.
They include amongst others: e-Education via Further Education and Training (FET), Telemedicine through the e-Health projects, connectivity at the Thusong Service Centres also known as the Multi-Purpose Centres
- BuaNews
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