“It is time to celebrate when we are able to introduce life changing innovations for the good of our people”, Premier of the Eastern Cape, Phumulo Masualle, has said as the provincial government prepares for the roll out of Broadband Connectivity in the province. Broadband entails a high capacity transmission technique using a wide range of frequencies, which enable a large number of messages to be communicated simultaneously.
The Eastern Cape government will be launching the roll out of Provincial Broadband network as the start of a project to widen and transform service delivery initiatives in the province. The Broadband Internet service is the most used form of Internet access due to its high access speed.
The project will see all parts of the province, including Metropolitan Municipalities and rural areas, having access to improved broadband communications technology. In the first phase, Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City Metropolitan areas, and the Mthatha area, will experience improved connectivity at hospitals, clinics, schools and provincial departments’ head offices within six months. This improvement is expected to result in internal operational efficiency gains, lower operational costs which will free up resources for other service delivery initiatives, and an improvement between provincial and local government departments, resulting in improved quality of service to the citizens.
Connected hospitals will become more innovative in delivering telemedicine and telehealth services, connected schools mean digitally transformed learners. Connectivity allows for transparency and promotes further citizen engagement using e-government solutions. The broadband project will also increase access to the internet economy which is an entry point for communities into the formal economy.
Further details on the launch will be communicated soon.
