Residents of Parkview, an upmarket suburb in Johannesburg covering around 1,100 households, have kick-started the process of building a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in their neighbourhood, under an initiative dubbed ‘iParkview’, TechCentral reports. The Parkview Residents’ Association (PRA) has reportedly initiated discussions with potential suppliers, and is expected to put out a formal request for proposals soon. Indra de Lanerolle, who in charge of the PRA’s fibre campaign, has revealed that although there are a number of major fibre rings that pass through the suburb, the best broadband access residents can get is copper-based ADSL, with residents said to be unhappy with the transmission speeds, reliability and value for money offered by the technology. ‘We have fast fibre-optic cables running through and around the suburb that could be used to provide much better broadband services at reasonable cost,’ the PRA stated in a newsletter. The PRA is also asking residents to complete an online survey to determine how much they would be prepared to pay for superfast broadband access with speeds of up to 100Mbps. The survey suggests that Parkview hopes to offer a wide range of services, starting with a ‘value contract’ at 4Mbps.
