“Fibre is about more than just connecting to the internet,” says Zoom Fibre’s Managing Director Mohamed Asmal.
As part of the joint initiative by Zoom Fibre and the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM), to give all households in the municipal area access to fibre, new smart poles have been installed in various local sites.
Zoom Fibre is part of the Baobab project alongside the municipality and Amoeba TSC. Together they took on the task of managing the fibre network that powers the country’s first smart city.
Says Asmal: “Imagine smart poles that run on their own renewable energy, with a brain so powerful they can adjust their brightness if there is no-one in the streets, proactively reducing crime and reactively leading to the capture and arrest of criminals, proactively managing traffic volumes, providing WiFi hotspots and so much more.
“That is the immense power of fibre, and that is why we wake up every morning at Zoom Fibre – to bring the power of fibre to the people and to drive real digital inclusion and transformation, and so as we work through this proof of concept with the first batch of towers over time and as it becomes feasible, we will increase the scope and functionality of the smart towers and eventually unleash the full power of fibre.”
Beyond working towards the ability to recognise faces and people without capturing personal information, and therefore link suspects to a crime, the smart poles will eventually have the functionality to be able to be proactive, such as raise alerts if suspicious people are seen gathering in the vicinity of a business or school, for example, and deploy security and alert the police.
“We are committed to this region and will continue pioneering the power of fibre and working with our partners to turn SBM into a smart city connected to the world,” said Asmal. He said the team apply learnings and deploy more value-added services to other regions.
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Quelle/Source: Netwerk24, 30.01.2023
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