INDUSTRY FOCUS
INDUSTRY FOCUS
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Dark fibre, dirty movies and sewerage pipes
– it sounds a little seedy and sordid, but it’ s all part of Link Africa’ s mission to bring us closer to the limitless world of the Internet through fibre optics.
According to the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, we stand on the brink of what is termed the“ Fourth Industrial Revolution”, essentially a technological revolution that promises to fundamentally change the way we live, work and relate to one another. In its scale, scope and complexity, the transformation is expected to be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We have witnessed developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and biotechnology, to mention just a few, that are all building on and magnifying each other. This is creating a foundation for a more comprehensive revolution than anything we have previously witnessed.
Smart systems, homes, factories, farms, grids and cities are expected to help address problems ranging from supply chain management to climate change. The rise of the sharing economy will allow people to monetise everything from their empty house( Airbnb) to their car( Uber). All this“ future” is underpinned by the broadband enabling infrastructure that is optical fibre.
Optical fibre is globally recognised as the key building block of a connected world capable of handling gigabit-speed content and applications. The Internet of Things and the increasing interconnectedness of machines, appliances, devices, sensors and – ultimately – people are converging into a perfect storm.
Many of us are already experiencing the joy of fibre to the home( FTTH), and those of use who aren’ t yet connected just can’ t wait for the big cable drums to roll out in our neighbourhood. But the costly and time-consuming process of actually laying the cable is the main limiting factor. A huge part of the cost is in digging the trenches, physically laying the cables, and then restoring the environment. But Link Africa has patented a system for laying fibre cable in existing sewerage and water pipes, thus reducing costs and civil disruption.
It sounds ideal and obvious, but Link Africa has had to fight a two-year legal battle to be allowed to use the technology. The City of Tshwane took the company all the way to the Constitutional Court to keep it from gaining access to“ their” water and sewerage systems. Link Africa’ s persistence resulted in a win for everyone, when the Constitutional Court confirmed the original High Court ruling that the use of the water and sewerage system for fibre optic cables was to everyone’ s benefit, including that of the City of Tshwane, noting that“ fibre-optic cables are the fastest and most effective product on the market to implement electronic communications networks, and provide a safe and secure system that has