We will lay cable, says Neotel

NEOTEL will begin construction of its 5000km national fibre optic network with or without MTN.

The company’s head of network implementation, Imran Abbas, made this bold announcement during a routine discussion about trends in the information and communications technology industry

Only two weeks ago Tim Lowry, MTN South Africa’s managing director, announced the launch of its metro-wide fibre networks, and the company’s intention to build a 5000km nationwide network with an unknown partner. That partner turned out to be Neotel.

The second fixed-lined operator said it was eager to start construction this year, while MTN said that it was still verifying tenders for contractors. Abbas said: “We have wasted enough time already. The contracts are sorted out, and we should start the construction in a month’s time. We are prepared to do it with anyone.

“The first phase will be 5000km, and the second will be 2500km.”

The company already has an 8000km metro-wide fixed-fibre network in alliance with Infraco. MTN was unavailable for comment on Friday.

http://www.neotel.co.za/neotel/view/neotel/en/page33244?oid=54784&sn=Detail


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