Telecom infrastructure provider, Bandwidth and Cloud Services (BCS) Group has commissioned the first multi-million dollar rail fibre optic project to link Zimbabwe and Africa with broadband services leveraging availably rail infrastructure.
The project is scheduled to position Zimbabwe as Africa’s internet traffic epicentre.
Dr Jenfan Muswere, the minister of information communication technologies, postal services, and courier services, oversaw the launch on Thursday in Victoria Falls. e noted that the project would alter everything since it would use technology to improve the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.
According to the Minister, “Today, we are in Victoria Falls to emphasize the government’s commitment to enhancing citizens’ standards of living in keeping with the idea of an Africa Continental Free Trade Area.” “The rollout of fiber across the nation shows the government’s desire to empower people through technology and the digital economy, and this launch represents the government’s role in bringing the unconnected online in order to realize our Vision 2030.”
He went on to say that this happened a day after the government launched its National Broadband Plan to improve access to technology for businesses. He stressed the importance of this for the growth of Africa.
Read also: Zimbabwe Telco Regulator Approves 61% Increase In Tariff
Phases Of The Fibre Optic Project
The project’s first phase required no less than $18 million invested, beginning from Beitbridge along the railway line past Rutenga, Somabhula, Bulawayo and Hwange to Victoria Falls.
The second phase will see the network extending from Somabhula via Gweru to Harare as well as Bulawayo-Plumtree and Harare-Mutare.
I T, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere cuts the ribbon to launch the Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group fibre optic project in Victoria Falls. Looking on are left, NRZ General Manager Ms Respina Zinyanduko and BCS group director general Yonas Maru
In the final stage, the fibre optic system will be installed from Rutenga to Chikwalakwala to cover the whole rail network in the country before extending to Zambia into the region.
As the project will be extended to the entire continent using the existing rail network, it fits with the Second Republic’s philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind in the effort to realise an upper-middle-income society by 2030. It will also contribute to Africa Agenda 2063.
By collaborating with the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), the BCS Group is bringing the nation into the fourth industrial revolution by using cutting-edge technology to dig and lay cables underground on the side of the train line.
The process involved
A trench 1,2 meters deep is dug on the side of the rail by a locomotive towing a 100-ton machine while also installing a hollow duck pipe through which the cables will run. The trench is then immediately filled with water by a separate device.
Every 4 kilometers along the railway line, manholes are prepared, and technical workers from various nationalities employed by the Mauritius-based BCS pull the cables through the duct and connect them.
Only two of the 96 wire cores or cables that are put side by side will be utilized to carry broadband; the remaining 96 can be sold to other network partners, according to BCS experts.
Cables have been installed between Beitbridge and Victoria Falls, and according to BCS Group Managing Director, Mr Yonas Maru, they are just waiting for Zesa to link the 12 sites along the railway where the system will be hosted to begin rolling out the network in February 2019.
BCS is a wholesale carrier that offers fiber connectivity solutions in Africa. During the COVID-19 lockdown, BCS entered Zimbabwe with the intention of connecting areas that lack roads by using the railway network.
The undertaking establishes the continent’s first cloud train network.
Mr. Maru said they used the COVID-19 period to design a fiber network and started in Zimbabwe in partnership with NRZ after getting a permit from the Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz).
“Millions of Zimbabweans will soon experience cheaper and faster network connectivity.” This is the first of its kind happening in remote areas in the region along the existing railway from Zimbabwe to the DRC and Angola.
“Our vision is to make Zimbabwe the center of internet traffic in Africa, just as it is the center of the continent’s railway network,” Mr Maru said.
He emphasised that the system will also help overcome the challenges of the destruction of overhead cables by cyclones while expressing
BCS’ belief that expensive and inaccessible telecommunication keeps citizens poor
“We are doing this for the first time in Africa, and our ultimate goal is for people everywhere to have cheaper, more affordable Internet access that meets SERI.” A total of $ 18 million was invested in phase one of the 180-kilometer venture, and a similar amount will be used in phase two of the same distance.
Mr. Maru said work on the Somabhula to Harare stretch would start next month.
He said BSC would benefit from commercially satisfying its funders, and he practically believes it is important to contribute to the growth of Africa.
Potraz Director-General Dr Gift Machengete said bandwidth is the foundation of the 4th industrial revolution.
“The project being launched today improves broadband connectivity as broadband is the new catalyst for job creation, global competitiveness, and the betterment of lives,” he said, adding that Potraz recognizes the socio-economic benefits of broadband on including social life.
