admincompleted in November, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.
Once complete the fibre optic link is expected to bolster service provision by State-owned telecommunications companies NetOne and TelOne.
Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa said work on the project was progressing smoothly.
“The routes that we are currently working on will be complete by November. Everything is on course and we are almost halfway through,” he said.
“So far about US$14, 4 million has been availed by Government for the project.”
In the 2011 National Budget, Government allocated US$15 million for the Harare-Bulawayo-Beitbridge and Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge fibre optic links.
The routes cover a total distance of about 1 340km. Mr Chamisa added that Government was seeking Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in upgrading existing backbone infrastructure.
“We have not yet found a partner to help us implement the upgrading of backbone infrastructure. We need to bring connectivity to all the marginalised areas. This is why we are saying we need partners to help lift the burden off Government.” Last year, TelOne completed installation of the Harare to Mozambique link at a total cost of US$6, 3 million.
The Government embarked on the fibre optic projects to improve broadband services as the existing Mazowe earth satellite link proved to be expensive and has limited Internet services capacity.
On completion, the fibre optic link will enable faster Internet and telephone connection, transmission of data as well as multimedia facilities. – New Ziana.
Online Reporter