ATF 2024: Liquid SA, Western Cape Government sign $110M connectivity deal

Liquid Intelligent Technologies and the Western Cape Government in South Africa have renewed a partnership aimed at expanding connectivity in the province.

The project extension was announced at Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town on Tuesday and will see an investment of over R2 billion (US$110.8 million) over the next seven years for Liquid South Africa to increase access to high-speed connectivity and add more free public Wi-Fi hotspots in the region.

"Since the onset of our partnership, Liquid South Africa has established 1,600 free public Wi-Fi hotspots and over 2,000 sites which include schools, hospitals, clinics and libraries which are used by almost 4 million citizens in the province," said Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa.

"Access to high-speed connectivity is the necessary catalyst for driving digital transformation. We have increased data allocation and provided faster speeds, and through the deployment of SD-WAN [software-defined wide area network], we even improved the cybersecurity offering," he added.

Liquid, which is a Cassava Technologies business, believes that these efforts will ensure that the province's citizens and businesses, in both rural and metro areas, will be able to take advantage of opportunities offered by digital transformation.

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The first contract was for ten years, and Geyser told Connecting Africa that initially the ambition of the province was boosting GDP growth through connectivity and providing better access for underserved communities.

"For us, the view [back then] was this is a long-term investment cycle, but having an anchor tenant helps to carry the business case for funding and investment and helps to then take infrastructure to a lot more remote areas as a first phase. The second step to that is over time that the private sector then starts to see the opportunity for [rolling out] fiber to the home in more rural communities" he explained.

Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa. (Source: Liquid Intelligent Technologies)

The public Wi-Fi network is already available in over 26 municipalities at 1,600 locations and provides 6GB of data per device per month at speeds of between 10 Mbit/s to 20 Mbit/s.

"What we will be deploying [under the extended partnership] is a technology refresh [on] what we already have in the existing services – which then helps to scale down capacity at some sites, which then brings efficiencies back into the total cost of ownership of the entire construct," Geyser told Connecting Africa in an interview.

"Through this entire program, we are expanding sites, but in reality there will also be about a 20%-30% cost saving for the way that the province is setting up the entire architecture," he added.

Related:Cassava Technologies launches Cassava AI

Liquid said that government websites will also remain permanently free for users to access, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their location or resources, can benefit from this initiative.

Western Cape's digital transformation strategy

Dr. Harry Malila, Director-General of the Western Cape Government, said that the deal was an extension of what was already a productive partnership with Liquid South Africa and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) over the past 10 years.

"Broadband '1.0' has delivered enhanced connectivity in Western Cape Government (WCG) corporate buildings, schools, hospitals and clinics, while our e-Centres and rural libraries provide access to information technology and employment opportunities for all our residents, especially disadvantaged youth," Malila added.

He said that the initiatives have made a significant difference in the lives of residents in the province and boosted the WCG's overall growth and jobs agenda.

The provincial government is now looking at proliferating its Broadband '2.0' strategy over the next seven years through the project extension.

According to the 2023 General Household Survey by Statistics South Africa, at 88.1%, the Western Cape already has the highest Internet access rate in South Africa.

While mobile remains a key connectivity mechanism for the province, and South Africa in general, the relatively high costs of mobile broadband has been a barrier in the past.

Liquid said that access public Wi-Fi networks presents an opportunity for citizens to connect not only to each other but also for mobile learning, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

SITA's acting MD Simphiwe Dzengwa, added that the partnership is a good example of a successful public-private partnership.

"Through [the partnership], the province has achieved its critical milestones in bringing connectivity to communities and government buildings. This is a great milestone for our country in its digitization effort. As SITA, we are around to be the facilitator and driver of these achievements. We will seek to replicate the Western Cape example in other provinces," Dzengwa added.