FibreCo Telecommunications, the company behind South Africa’s most ambitious open-access long distance fibre optic network, on Friday 4 July, officially launched its internationally and MICT SETA-accredited Fibre Optic Training Programme in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The trainees involved in the month-long programme include SMMEs, further education training [FET] train-the-trainer individuals and people training in information and communications technology (ICT). On completion of the programme, the 25 graduates will join 50 others from Bloemfontein and East London who have benefitted from FibreCo’s training.
Launching the programme on Friday, FibreCo Chairman Dr Andile Ngcaba said the training would create much-needed entrepreneurs in the fibre optics sector. Ngcaba, the East London-born former Director General of government communications during Nelson Mandela’s presidency, is well known in the communications sector and is involved in pioneering ICT projects throughout Africa.
“What we are doing is helping these trainees to become entrepreneurs, to either work with us [FibreCo], or with different companies. Through this training we are helping grow the Internet economy,” said Ngcaba.
“We believe this project is good for the Eastern Cape region, good for the country and good for the economy.”
The primary focus of the course is to provide comprehensive coverage of the best practices for the deployment of optical communication networks. Optical fibre installation, fusion and mechanical splicing, connectorisation, acceptance testing and troubleshooting – among others – is taught through hands-on practice.
The intensive month-long training programme, in partnership with the Seda Nelson Mandela Bay ICT Incubator (SNII), is accredited by the Fibre Optic Association (FOA), which commands worldwide recognition in the fibre networking industry worldwide. This programme will ensure that trainees are better qualified to apply for new job opportunities which will arise in the operation and maintenance of FibreCo’s network and of other fibre networks across the country.
The training in the Bay is part of FibreCo’s multi-billion project that will ultimately link South Africa’s major cities and far-flung rural areas with high speed Internet through its state-of-the-art fibre optic technology. FibreCo’s current network interconnects Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, East London and Cape Town, providing the shortest and fastest optical fibre connectivity between these cities today. Long-haul fibre routes are the foundation of the Internet and FibreCo’s network provides unprecedented broadband capacity between inland cities and the submarine cable landing stations on the country’s West Coast.
Ngcaba said the rollout of the FibreCo network would ultimately help lower the cost of Internet access while upping connectivity speeds.
“We want to lower the cost of Internet access, so that as many people as possible can have access to cheaper Internet at higher speeds,” he said.
Already FibreCo’s training is paying off, with at least 12 graduates successfully placed as interns with the company and other operational partners where they are being given vital on-the-job training. In June this year, after completing a 12 month internship, six graduates from the Bloemfontein training programme were appointed on a permanent basis.
Alan Straton
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