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Based on its recent analysis of the fibre industry, Frost & Sullivan recognises Link Africa with the 2015 South African Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation. Cutting-edge technology innovation has enabled Link Africa to deliver telecommunications infrastructure and services more rapidly and cost effectively than its competitors. By driving down the cost of broadband for end users, it is helping make South Africa a more advanced high-speed telecommunications community.
“Link Africa builds and operates its own fibre optic networks and has the capacity to build more than 3,500 km of metropolitan backbone in the key metropolitan areas of South Africa,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Joanita Roos. Link Africa’s fibre optic cables are deployed in existing municipal service networks, significantly reducing deployment costs as the provision of trenches and ducts accounts for up to 80 percent of fibre optic network costs.”
Furthermore the technology reduces the risk of civil disruption, ensures route independence and is up to four times faster to deploy. It is also particularly superior in the fibre to the home (FTTH) market as it minimises the need for streets or pavements to be dug up.
Link Africa offers services on an open access network (OAN), as it creates a distinction between the physical access to the network and service provision. Therefore, its OAN can be used by multiple service providers to sell services to end users. The combination of competitive pricing and OAN model has a significant impact on the industry, reducing connectivity costs and ultimately, strengthening economic development.
The company has three core business segments mobile-phone operator & Internet service provider (ISP) connectivity, business connectivity and consumer connectivity. Currently, the majority of company revenues are generated by ISPs making use of Link Africa’s fibre in order to carry their network traffic, as well as mobile operators using the fibre network to fire-up their towers. It is anticipated that the revenue breakdown from all the three business segments will be equally dispersed going forward.
Link Africa is also an exclusive patent holder of Fibre Optic Cable in Underground Systems™ (FOCUS™) in Africa. FOCUS™ is a technology pioneered in Wales for the deployment of fibre optic cables in existing municipal service networks. It provably delivers superior network availability compared to traditional trenched fibre solutions.
“Link Africa continuously invests in research and development (R&D) and explores ways to make fibre infrastructure affordable and reliable. It has also developed innovative ways of deploying fibre in buildings more cost effectively,” noted Roos. “Robotic drilling technology is used to allow networks to reach places that are usually inaccessible as a result of the density of municipal services.”
Due to its extensive engineering expertise in the design and deployment of fibre, Link Africa is a well-recognised and established player in the market. Its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction has firmly placed it on the path to success.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies, which significantly impacts both the functionality and the customer value of the new products and applications. The award lauds the high R&D spend towards innovation, its relevance to the industry and the positive impact on brand perception.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
About Link Africa
Link Africa (linkafrica.co.za) is an open access fibre optic infrastructure owner and operator. Link Africa’s fibre optic infrastructure (currently totalling 3,500km and growing) can be used by all of South Africa’s licensed telecommunications operators to provide fixed & mobile voice & data services to their residential and business users. Link Africa’s FOCUS™ technology sees the deployment of fibre optic networks in existing underground ducts including sewer and storm-water drains.
About Frost & Sullivan
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Contact: Andre Hoffmann - Special Projects
Johannesburg: +27(0)87 151 0950 / Durban +27(0)10 020 0410 / M: +27(0)78 800 2686
E: andre[.]linkafrica.co.za.
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