Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 9 September 2015 | Page 43

eagle canyon
FTTH case study
High-speed broadband in South Africa has been
substantially lagging in comparison to the rest of the
world. Vodacom is leading the charge towards the
deployment of high-speed fibre access throughout the
country with their Vodacom Fibre service, a premium
lifestyle service offering that allows customers access
to a greater world of online capability and services
that is so much more than just ordinary internet
access.
Unlike other service providers, Vodacom, which is a
definite market leader, is in the process of building
a full suite of services, including voice, video, music,
security and automation, all of which will soon be
available to Vodacom Fibre.
As part of their growing fibre footprint, Eagle Canyon
Golf Estate selected Vodacom to roll out fibre-tothe-home. Rated as one of the best places to live
in Johannesburg in a survey by The Financial Mail,
Eagle Canyon just celebrated its ten-year anniversary
and is one of the country’s most renowned estates,
making it one of the best-placed environments
for such an exercise. Vodacom already had seven
mobile base stations on the estate connected by

EAGLE CANYON GOLF ESTATE

existing fibre infrastructure. As a result, there was
already an existing working relationship with the
estate management and, coupled with the fact that
Vodacom demonstrated substantial knowledge with
regards to infrastructure and service delivery, it made
for a perfect combination for the roll-out of stateof-the-art broadband services. The Vodacom team
reinitiated existing communication channels within
the estate community via weekly newsletters and the
posting of information on the estate portal and social
media. In addition, open days were regularly held
onsite, allowing for person-to-person communication
between Vodacom and the residents, who were able
to enquire about the Vodacom product offering and
air their concerns.
The Eagle Canyon Home Owners’ Association initially
had grave reservations regarding the disruption that
would be caused as a result of the fibre installation
and how any damage to roads and the surrounding
landscape would be restored. Vodacom was able to
resolve these initial concerns by providing in-depth
explanations of the roll-out process, showing pictures
of how it will occur and reinforcing the process of
restoration. The use of 3D scanning, used during
the site survey phase, helped to establish where