More fibrehoods in Joburg

Residents of Killarney and Riviera in Northern Johannesburg have commissioned Vumatel to install a Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) network in their respective suburbs.

The rollout of the fibre network is scheduled to start in the first quarter of this year and residents and businesses alike are set enjoy the benefits that derive from high-speed fibre connectivity. In choosing to become ‚Äòfibrehoods’, Killarney and Riviera join existing ‚Äòfibrehood’ Parkhurst and soon-to-be-connected Greenside and Parktown North.

Parkhurst, the first connected suburb in South Africa, led the way in endorsing tech start-up Vumatel, and as a result has access to true high-speed internet access at internationally comparable speeds of up to 1Gbps.

Work from home entrepreneurs and SME’s in particular have seen their productivity increase substantially while families are celebrating the new-found speeds that make music streaming, video on demand (VOD) and online video sites a world class experience.

Niel Schoeman, Vumatel CEO comments: “There has been a rapid and high volume take up of FTTH in Parkhurst and interest from other suburbs is increasingly evident. The ability to have a stable, true high-speed internet connection in today’s tech driven society is highly sought-after and we’re excited to offer this ground breaking service, rooted in choice and control to South African consumers”.

The open-access VUMA FTTH network offers real consumer choice since it provides not only a choice of competitively priced services, but a choice of service providers too. Within the context of a 24-month contract driven environment, the ability to sign up on a month-to-month basis is another highly desirable consumer benefit.

Wayne Ford, chair of the NKRA (New Killarney-Riviera Association) says:

“This is a positive development for Killarney-Riviera. Our residents will obtain numerous technological benefits from the project, but we will also see further increases in property prices because the availability of a first-world FTTH is very attractive to technologically-driven societies.

The related ability to install high-tech security systems has obvious benefits as well. We also greatly appreciate that Vumatel will install the infrastructure in our suburbs without demanding an up-front commitment, and will allow individual residents to join on as and when we are ready. This greatly improves the viability of the project, and demonstrates that they are confident of their product. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with them.

How can your suburb become the next VUMA fibrehood?

Over 40 suburbs are in a race against each other to become the next VUMA ‚Äòfibrehood’. Consumers are encouraged to pledge their support on VUMA’s website at www.vumatel.co.za by simply checking their address to ensure it falls within one of the planned suburbs identified as a possible future ‚Äòfibrehood’.

Real consumer choice

Several service providers have offers available to consumers over VUMA’s open access network in the existing ‚Äòfibrehoods’. The same and possibly expanded choices will be available to all future ‚Äòfibrehoods’ including Killarney and Riviera.

FTTH can offer consumers not only extremely high-speed internet, but choice in deciding on how to access it. We look forward to announcing many more suburbs soon, and encourage residents to visit the Vumatel website in order to pledge their support,” concludes Schoeman.

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