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Robert Ndlovu
THE Bulawayo City Council owes us something. I am not sure what it is that you guessed. Let me give general publicly known facts. By nature and design all municipalities own infrastructure, that is, things like water network, sewer system, buildings and tower lights amongst other many of their untapped resources.

So what? As ratepayers whatever I have listed above is owned by us by virtue of paying our bills. This assumes that you the reader does the same. Our city is no second to any other in terms service delivery – literally.

Kudos to that.

Now is my challenge with our city authorities. Notwithstanding the infrastructure that they boast about in historic terms, mere talk is cheap. It might be very easy for me or us as residents to point fingers at them. But personally I think the problem starts with us, the residents. How can we elect councilors who are not up to the task, who are unable to take this city to the next technological level.

Yes you read me right. The engineers, town planners and health workers can only do what has been authorised by councillors. Who is to blame? Us.

Data and mobile communications companies have come to the City of Kings and Queens and deployed their networks. Fair enough because they have licenses to do that under the telecommunications regulator, Potraz. A month ago the regulator advertised for interested parties to applies for Virtual Network Operators.

In short these are entities who can now run and operate their own networks. The licence fees are no longer what the original telco companies paid back then. They used to pay seven digit kind of numbers. But as of today an entity or company or organisation can ride on an existing and functional network under a branded name.

The most expensive licence for riding on some mobile network operator is $50 000.Yes you read that right. Deploying a data and or voice network is no longer a preserve of the current operators.

One common hurdle would be that the mobile operator that you want to ride on to offer special branded services might make it difficult for the new entrants. This is the single biggest challenge.

For a city like Bulawayo, which boasts of the tallest tower lights in Africa, I do not see why we should not have our own metro data network or metro WiFi. Yes you read that right. I mean by now we as a city should use our own existing infrastructure to run our own networks. The same applies for all other towns or municipalities.

How so? I am sure you have seen various companies digging trenches all over our city laying fiber optic cable. Optic fiber is fast and cost effective in the long term. For a city like Bulawayo we should by now or latest next have our own data network.

We have a water network and sewer network not to mention our tower lights. So to me I am struggling to understand why the city fathers and mothers do not or cannot see this so obvious an opportunity. Well common sense it not so common from what I see.

Bulawayo must use its sewer system to lay its own optic fiber network to reach all suburbs. For the record this is no new concept it is an international norm. The city must take advantage of its water distribution networks for the same purpose. Bulawayo must and will use its tall tower lights to deploy its own WiFi network.

I suspect I know what you are thinking. It is along these lines – where will the city get its data feed? Well if you did not know Powertel, Liquid Telecom and Telone and others are already licensed wholesale data carriers, which means when the city gets its own Virtual Network Operator, which is $ 50 000 tops, they can source data traffic from any of the Potraz licensed vendors I quoted above. I do not see any reason or lack thereof why our city cannot do this?

If the city authorities feel this is out of their immediate mandate, then we have the wrong people in both council and the tower block.

We live in an information driven society and access to information is now like access to clean drinking water. Take it literally if you will. The fact remains that the most progressive communities are those who have access to information.

That information is now made possible by the availability, accessibility and of smart phones. Ten years ago there were very few people who could afford a personal computer. Not to mention the cost of internet. But today anyone and anywhere with a $30 smart phone can have access to information pool. Add to that the wide coverage that is made possible by wireless networks.

Directly Bulawayo and all other municipalities stand to benefit directly by having their own data network leased from a influenced data carrier. Some less obvious benefits include the ability of city authorities to have direct access to their rate payers. Smart metering is on the way.

Would it not make sense for the city to run a data networking using its own existing infrastructure? I am certain some of you have heard about sharing of infrastructure. The basic logic being able to cut down on costs by spreading costs.  You think that the sewage system is only capable of “shipping” out waste? You think that the water network can only deliver water to various suburbs? Or worse still you think that the tower lights are only useful at night when its dark?

If this is what you thought, revise and elevate your thinking system. We make no apology for demanding that our children have access to data? But look here maybe the city authorities have already entered into an arrangement for a long period with one or so data providers. It is understandable. But that is no excuse for not surging forward.

The City of Kings and Queens can have a technological subsidiary. Is this too big a bone to chew? Data is a right and our city fathers and mothers are not doing enough to solve this.

Sooner or later we need to tell them that this is a non negotiable issue. Worse still the data companies I suspect pay our city peanuts for renting some of their towers lights. If you have one in your neighbourhood get together with your neighbours and write a letter to council to demand that you have your own WiFi network pinned there.

This is about time that all Bulawayo residents have access to WiFi the same way they have to water. I plan that in six weeks time me and serious parents interested in our “kids” welfare will climb up one of these tower lights and place our WiFi router khonalapha eMzilikazi. So much easy will it be for the city to open up a new revenue stream. So much better will small to medium enterprises have access to the information highway.

@robertndlovu on cell (077) 600 2605