Johannesburg’s Parkhurst is soon going to be the envy of just about every other internet user in the country thanks to a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) initiative which will see the residents having access to internet line speeds between 4Mbps, an offering which will be free as far as line costs are concerned, and 1000Mbps.

Local provider Vumatel will be providing the lines for Parkhurst residents, according to the Parkhurst Residents and Business Owners Association (PRABOA) and the organisation’s technical adviser Ryan Hawthorne has said that “We chose Vumatel because of their excellent technical proposal, a solid business plan that showed the project was financially viable and fully funded, a comprehensive community communications plan, and commercial terms that were very favourable to the residents.”

Set to kick off in the next six to twelve months, the fibre-to-the-home project won’t come cheap in the short term though the long term benefits of a stable high-speed internet connection are almost undeniable. The outlay for Parkhurst residents will include a once-off fibre installation fee, which will set each home back R2,500, and then the cost of the line rental. A 50Mbps line will run users R500 a month while a full gigabit connection will cost R1,300 a month. Deals with internet service providers are not included in these totals.

Vumatel’s Niel Schoeman said “We’re very pleased with the result of the process. We’ve been assessing Parkhurst as a pilot project for over a year. With the community showing such great interest, we had no hesitation in bidding. We look forward to working with the Parkhurst community and residents to start this grass-roots telecoms revolution. It is time for consumers to get a better service, choice and a fairer deal.”