An alliance to supply internet connectivity via fibre, established by Nokia, its partner Liquid Intelligent Technologies and PayGoZo, will provide Nokia fibre technologies to supply economical, uncapped and ultra-fast internet as part of the Kayamandi Township Fibre Project.

Kayamandi Township is located in Stellenbosch, Western Cape province in South Africa.

The initial proof of concept phase, launched in September 2022, will see more than 15,000 people connected.

As per the agreed terms of the partnership, Nokia will serve as the technology provider, Liquid Intelligent Technologies as Nokia’s partner, and PayGoZo as a new innovative Internet Service Provider in Stellenbosch.

The team worked closely to use the conventional Nokia Fibre-to-the-X (FTTX) solution to provide a highly scalable solution for The Kayamandi Fibre Project.

Users are offered unlimited data, but on a time-based and pay-as-you-go pricing scheme, which is both more cost effective and user friendly than mobile data solutions.

Nokia is providing both fibre access nodes for the fibre exchange and fibre modems to connect a Wi-Fi network across the entire township. Integration services within the PayGoZo network will be supported by Nokia’s Access Management System. Nokia’s ISAM FX optical line terminals (fibre access nodes) were selected for their ability to deliver high bandwidth services to a large number of users and their easy upgrade capacity in line with the growing demand.

The companies argue that digitisation of business services, education, healthcare and entertainment continues to accelerate globally. However, more than three billion people still lack internet access, putting them at a massive disadvantage.

The situation is exacerbated by the high cost of mobile data, which hinders equitable access to the internet for all segments of society.

Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, South Africa, said: “In the last two decades, Liquid has been working tirelessly to ensure that every person in Africa has access to high-speed connectivity. Partnering with Nokia to support PayGoZo in bringing the Kayamandi project to life is a reiteration of our commitment. This is one of our first projects in using innovative technology to bring access to fibre connectivity to the masses. We look forward to partnering with Nokia to replicate the success in other remote locations in South Africa and the wider continent.”

Rich Henn, CEO of PayGoZo, added: “We are committed to providing high-quality yet optimally-priced internet to connect those who are unable to afford expensive mobile network-based internet. Collaboration with Nokia and Liquid Intelligent Technologies has helped us fine-tune our approach, and we look forward to rolling out the project beyond the initial pilot phase, so that more people in Kayamandi can start benefitting from low-cost internet.”

Naveed Kashif, Head of Southern Africa Market at Nokia, said: "Fibre is by far the best connectivity solution for South African townships, providing affordable and uncapped internet essential for home workers and learners. We are proud to be partnering with Liquid and PayGoZo on this important project which adopts an innovative approach to provide affordable internet without compromising on the quality."