Baobab FIBRE Project Progress

Baobab FIBRE Project Progress

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

Saldanha Bay Municipality and SBM Smart City (Pty) Ltd are pleased to report that all major network-build milestones have been reached in terms of its Baobab fibre project.  All seven towns in the municipal area are now provided with world class Open Access Fibre Network services. This extensive network provides every citizen in the area with an opportunity to access the Internet and all its associated services. The fibre installation work in gated estates are on-going and is progressing well. To date almost 6,000 residences in gated estate have access to the Baobab fibre network and its services.

The Baobab end user community has reported that they appreciated the freedom to select from different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and that they enjoyed the increased telecommunication speed and reliability of the new network.

Local labour and SMME companies were involved and significantly contributed during the building and completion of the network installations in the various towns of Saldanha Bay Municipality.

The five local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) suppliers have also been successful in attracting and signing up an impressive number of new clients on the Baobab fibre network. Currently more than 10,000 subscribers are connected to the network with more than 1,000 contracted end users who are in the pipeline for services to be installed.

Information about the project is regularly distributed via various media outlets, local radio stations, social media and the Saldanha Bay Municipality’s official website. Promotion of the project will continue throughout 2023.

Residents and visitors to the area will also notice the increased activity around the display of SBM Smart City outdoor billboards and some co-branded outdoor billboards.  There are on-going activations in shopping malls, where individuals can enquire about and learn more of the project, the services and products available to them on this network.

The SBM Citizen Application (App) with its Smart City functionality is also gaining traction with end users; almost 2,000 individuals have already downloaded the application to their mobile devices and started to use the App functionality. The project team is making another appeal to SBM employees ánd residents to download the application and use the functionality not only to engage with each other but also to engage with Saldanha Bay Municipality.

The project team is happy to report that 11 local schools have already joined the Baobab project and signed up for their free Internet service.  We would like to encourage those schools who have not yet made use of this opportunity, to follow suit.

Various new projects are being executed, leveraging the now installed fibre network. Should any party require more information about any aspect associated with the Baobab fibre project please contact: Baobab@sbm.gov.za for information and assistance.

Contributed by Micaela Williams-Van Wyk

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY ENABLES THE DIGITAL CITIZEN IN SOUTH AFRICA

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY ENABLES THE DIGITAL CITIZEN IN SOUTH AFRICA

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY ENABLES THE DIGITAL CITIZEN IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Saldanha Bay Municipality has accepted the challenge to prepare its municipality for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and, in so doing, to enable its residents to benefit from opportunities and improvements.

The municipality has commenced with the process of establishing an optical fibre network that will provide all its residents with open access to data networks. At this stage, the Saldanha Bay Municipality is the only municipality in South Africa addressing the problem of accessibility to a data network in the community.

The Boabab Fibre project has now formally started and substantial progress has been made with the establishment of the open access fibre infrastructure (already installed in Langebaan, Saldanha, Vredenburg, Jacobsbaai, Hopefield and Paternoster).

In July 2022, the Saldanha Bay Municipality introduced its Digital Citizen app, which is integrated with the open access network in order to digitally provide its utility services to prospective users and residents. The app has received a lot of attention to date and is used by more than 1 071 residents.

The SBM Digital Citizen was conceptualised by Amoeba TSC to integrate seamlessly with Saldanha Bay’s municipal systems, with the focus on connecting every household in the municipal area.

The app is a comprehensive platform for liaison between residents, the municipality and service providers and includes the following functions: communication between residents and the municipality, a helpdesk, an emergency button, service purchases, repository for documents, facility management, utility management and a digital wallet. Homeowners can also connect their properties to the app. Furthermore, the app contains many more functions to make the lives of our residents hassle-free.

The SBM Digital Citizen can be downloaded from Google Play Store, Apple App Store and Huawei App Gallery. Residents are welcome to visit www.sbmsmartcity.co.za or www.sbm.gov.za for further information.

Baobab Smart City Project: Launch of the Saldanha Bay Municipality Digital Citizen App

Baobab Smart City Project: Launch of the Saldanha Bay Municipality Digital Citizen App

Baobab Smart City Project: Launch of the Saldanha Bay Municipality Digital Citizen App

On Thursday, 02 June 2022, the Saldanha Bay Municipality in its continued commitment to be innovative and at the forefront of technology, has launched its Digital Citizen App and effectively put the Municipality in the palms of its residents.

The Digital Citizen App forms part of the Baobab Fibre project, which is focused on connecting every single household in the municipal area.

The App is a comprehensive engagement platform between the citizens, the Municipality and service providers with communication, an emergency button, help desk, utility management, services shopping, digital wallet and payments, document repository, events, photo gallery and facility management functionality.

“Technology is not the solution on its own but is rather an enabler and catalyst to be utilised in innovative ways to achieve socio-economic development in and for our communities,” says Executive Mayor, Councillor André Truter.

The Digital Citizen App is one of two key building blocks for the Saldanha Bay Municipality, the first of which is the installation of a single Open Access Network.

“This open access network provides a digital highway to our Municipality that unlocks access to a multitude of Internet Service Providers and provides the access medium, to enable the rest of the building blocks”, adds Councillor Truter.

The Baobab Fibre Project is embedded in the overarching framework of Saldanha Bay Municipality’s open access infrastructure, focusing on solving the provision of Fibre-to-the-X for all in the community.

This creates an open, equitable and transparent platform for the private sector and Municipality to provide value-added services on the back of the fibre network and platforms,” says Executive Mayor, Councillor Truter.

As interest in smart cities continues to grow, driven by a range of social, economic, and technological developments that are impacting cities around the world, more are committing to programmes for sustainability, innovation and economic development that depend on technological investments.

“Choosing the correct partners and providers to deliver these programmes is of critical importance for the future of Saldanha Bay Municipality.  An effective telecommunications network and related services is one of the essential enablers of such a smart Municipality vision,” concludes the Executive Mayor, Councillor Truter.

The Digital Citizen App will be available to download from the App Store and Google Play Store on 01 July 2022.

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In the wake of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, 4IR or Industry 4.0, it has become inevitable for governments to become part of this rapidly growing...

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY AT THE FOREFRONT OF IMPLEMENTING NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY – FIBRE INFRASTRUCTURE TAKING SHAPE

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY AT THE FOREFRONT OF IMPLEMENTING NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY – FIBRE INFRASTRUCTURE TAKING SHAPE

SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY AT THE FOREFRONT OF IMPLEMENTING NEXT-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY – FIBRE INFRASTRUCTURE TAKING SHAPE

In the wake of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, 4IR or Industry 4.0, it has become inevitable for governments to become part of this rapidly growing development.  With its finger on the pulse of a changing, technology driven, global environment, Saldanha Bay Municipality recognises the value that 4IR can bring to enhance the lives of its residents through e-government services, smart resource management, safety, artificial intelligence (AI) and many other value-added services.

Saldanha Bay Municipality strives to be innovative and at the forefront of technology and to this effect, it embraced the challenge of getting our municipal area ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to enable our citizens to take up the opportunities and enhancements that 4IR brings.

Traditional methods for telecommunication services deployment is driven largely by uptake or potential uptake. For maximum uptake, large citizen or potential user numbers are required within the medium to high income groups or a large industry footprint is a prerequisite to justify the roll-out of, for example, fibre infrastructure within a municipal area.  Whilst from a commercial point of view, this concept is understood, however, it did not support the vision that Council had for improved connectivity in the Saldanha Bay Municipal area at large. The only resolve seemed to be that the municipality itself had to drive fibre installation from a basic infrastructure perspective in order to give access to all its citizens. A model driven by basic need for decent connectivity, rather than by uptake and the potential to earn return on investment was adopted.  This new model or project was coined BAOBAB since it turns the traditional model upside down – similar to the burly baobab tree that looks like it is growing with its routes above ground.

The mistake is often made to adopt technologies without due consideration for the back-end infrastructure that exists, to support new technologies. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is no different.  Many countries will be left behind due to lack of infrastructure geared to support the impact of 4IR.  Weary nót to fall behind and to remain receptive to all opportunities that modern-day technology is offering, Saldanha Bay Municipality actively, in a responsible and sustainable  manner, embarked on the journey to establish an innovative, next generation infrastructure that will provide an open access fibre network utility which will be available to all consumers within the municipal boundaries.  Saldanha Bay Municipality is proud to proclaim that it is currently the only municipality in South Africa that has tackled the challenge of data network connectivity within its communities.

In order to further invest in the success of the project, Saldanha Bay Municipality proactively built a “proof of concept network” that tested the viability of creating fibre as a utility service, designed to connecting every single household within the municipal area.

This infrastructure and system will in future deliver sustainable, scalable and replicable local programmes and projects that will directly support the following “SBM Game Changer Objectives,” namely: 

  • Stimulate and support economic development and growth;
  • Deliver service that shows customer care;
  • Next generation fibre infrastructure as a utility will place Saldanha Bay Municipality at the forefront of technology and innovation;
  • The digital platform will allow you to drive a cleanliness programme across multiple digital channels;
  • The Open Access Network (OAN) platform and its broad technology capabilities will create new opportunities for the community, whereas a cost-effective utility is provisioned for delivery of an extensive layer of services such as Internet Service providers (ISPs), content, education, utility management (for example water and electricity), security and the internet of things (IoT).
  • The spare capacity of the network will be made available to all internet service providers who have the required licensing to operate as an open access network supplier and that will enable them to provide services to all our residents. Saldanha Bay Municipality, through its BAOBAB project, will be connecting all households to this fibre network. 

Some of the key advantages of this project are:

  • Freedom to choose you provider – open access infrastructure is open to all.
  • Reduced cost of communication – 48% of the cost is for the physical network installation.
  • Easy to switch between providers.
  • Allows for better e-government solutions.
  • Makes cross subsidising lower income groups possible for the municipality.
  • Smart city/town concepts.
  • Revenue enhancement.
  • Better broadband penetration and uptake.
  • Municipal owned television stations.

With COVID-19 we have already ascertained a boom in the local property market, marking a trend where people are moving from busy urban areas to coastal towns and rural areas where they can experience a more serene lifestyle. People have realised that they can work from anywhere in the world if they are able to be connected.  We must therefore actively address improvement of the connectivity issues in the area; project BAOBAB aims to meet this challenge.  The dream of a connected, digitised municipality is fast becoming a reality!

Additional spin-offs of Project BAOBAB:

  • Temporary work and permanent jobs will be created over the life cycle of this project.
  • Skills transfer and training of local workers will be done to ensure that competent and well-trained resources are available to maintain the network over a very long term.
  • Local businesses are encouraged to participate with the projects and business owners are encouraged to contact the Baobab Program Office in this regard at E-mail: leon@amoebatsc.com
  • The Saldanha Bay Municipal ward councillors will be fully versed with the most important project elements to ensure that the local communities are able to reap the full benefits of what the project has to offer.
  • In March 2022 the Baobab team will launch the Saldanha Bay Municipality Mobile Citizen Application. This will include communication across social media platforms.
  • From March 2022 roadshows within the different municipal towns will commence. Activities will include public community meetings to be hosted in each town where members of the public will be briefed in person about the various aspects of the project.  The value and benefits of the Baobab Project will be discussed and explained to interested parties.

It is important to note that any individual, groups or businesses that illegally engage with the project, performing unauthorised and illegal trenching work in the municipal area, without the necessary Wayleave approvals, will be acted upon. No construction or other work that will negatively impact on the execution of the BAOBAB project, where an official appointment letter by First in Fibre Optics (Pty) Ltd. cannot be presented, will not be allowed.  Such activities will need to be reported to Saldanha Bay Municipality Law Enforcement Agencies.    Interested parties who would like to become involved with the further execution and/or civil works that entails the project, can send an E-mail to baobab@sbm.gov.za for assistance and consideration.

ISSUED BY:

Saldanha Bay Municipality

Communications and Public Relations

Enquiries: E-mail to baobab@sbm.gov.za

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Saldanha Bay Municipality calls on all residents to please remain calm, to reject violence and incitement, and to respect the law during this time of national public unrest.

At the moment, there has been no looting within the Saldanha Bay Municipal area.

A strategy is in place to respond to all potential risks within the Saldanha Bay Municipal area. All law enforcement agencies have been deployed to patrol potential hotspot areas and to monitor illegal gatherings and suspicious behaviour. We appeal to residents to report, should they notice such activities, to the South African Police Services on 08600 10111.

Should any violence break out, we will inform the community accordingly.

It is important that we do not fall prey to false, unverified or inaccurate information. We urge the public to be weary of fake news spread through social media, including WhatsApp.

We are busy fighting a deadly third wave of Covid-19 infections, while trying to roll-out life-saving vaccines.

Let’s remain focussed and move forward.

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HANDOVER OF PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCHES

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HANDOVER OF PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCHES

On Monday, 24 May 2021, the Executive Mayor of Saldanha Bay Municipality, Alderman Marius Koen hosted special guests, partners and stakeholders at an event where nine, local neighbourhood watches received equipment to assist them with their operational activities.

The following neighbourhood watches (NHW) were represented, namely: Hartbeesfontein Farm Watch (Hopefield), Hopefield, Paternoster, Saldanha, Jacobsbaai, Team Langebaan (Langebaan), Vredenburg Buurtwag (Vredenburg), Vredenburg Ou Dorp (Vredenburg) and Vredenburg Night Vision (Vredenburg.)

The Western Cape Government MEC for Community Safety, Minister Albert Fritz was the keynote speaker and made use of the opportunity to acknowledge the neighbourhood- and farm watches’ chairpersons and members, for their selfless, volunteer work.

Saldanha Bay Municipality’s Director for Corporate and Public Safety Services, Phumzile Mbaliswana, said that he believed the relationship between SBM, law enforcement entities and the neighbourhood watches would only grow stronger.  Councillor André Truter, Portfolio Councillor for Corporate Services and Public Safety acknowledged and thanked the local South African Police Services (SAPS) for their assistance and support towards the work of the local neighbourhood and farm watches.

Equipment that were handed out at the event included reflective jackets, pepper spray with pouches, hand cuffs with pouches and torches.  Forty (40) bicycles will also be distributed amongst the various neighbourhood watches to assist them with their work within their areas.

Alderman Koen made use of the occasion to convey his sincere appreciation towards all the individuals who are involved in neighbourhood watches and he thanked them for their dedication and commitment towards making communities safer.

    Photographs Attached:

    1. Photograph 1:   Minister Albert Fritz, Executive Mayor, Alderman Marius Koen and members of the Saldanha Bay Municipality’s Mayoral Committee, chairpersons and representatives of the neighbourhood and farm watches and officials from the Saldanha Bay Municipality gathered to commemorate the event.
    2. Photograph 2 & 3: Examples of some of the protective equipment that were presented to the representatives from the local neighbourhood and farm watches.

     

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