Fibre lines continue to be damaged by Newcastle Municipality projects

As the Newcastle Municipality forges ahead with ambitious plans to enhance service delivery and rejuvenate ageing town infrastructure, concerns are mounting over the unintended consequences for local internet providers.

Newcastle residents and businesses have experienced internet disruptions in recent weeks, with fingers initially pointed at internet service providers.

However, it appears the root cause lies in the municipality’s ongoing development projects.

In a notice issued by Evotel at the close of October 2023, it was revealed that the municipal work in Newcastle was significantly impeding maintenance technicians with fibre lines being broken during municipal work.

“Due to the repeated breaks, the network integrity has suffered. Technicians are working to restore stability to the network; however, any quick fixes risk further downtime in the future,” explained Evotel’s notice. The notice also outlined the installation of new infrastructure and upgrades across the network to strengthen access points.

While acknowledging the community’s frustration, Evotel emphasised its commitment to prioritising uptime, even amidst the challenges posed by the Newcastle Municipality’s water infrastructure upgrade project. “Multiple teams are in the area, but we ask that the community continues to extend us their patience. Despite the challenges Evotel is currently facing in Newcastle, your uptime is still our priority,” stated Evotel in its notice.

Newcastillian News approached the Newcastle Municipality on 25 October 2023, questioning the government entity on what responsibility it took in damaging the local internet lines, as well as what steps it could take to avoid this from happening again?

The Newcastle Municipality was further questioned on whether its teams had the necessary plans on where the said internet lines ran, and if they did, why were the lines being damaged?

However, despite numerous attempts since then to obtain any form of feedback, the Newcastle Municipality has not responded.

However, as November slowly draws to a close, Newcastle’s internet services remain plagued by problems. Fliber Newcastle’s Shanté Marais said, “As a fibre reseller in Newcastle, we are deeply concerned by the extensive damage inflicted on the fibre infrastructure by the municipality’s water department. In certain areas, our clients have endured downtime for up to 80 days.”

In addition to this, Marais explained that KC Pinnacle, the maintenance company for Evotel, whom Fliber works closely with, has been diligently working around the clock to repair the damages.

“Regrettably, the water department appears to be damaging the fibre at a rate that outpaces the repair efforts. They persistently return, breaking the fibre even after it has been restored, leading to prolonged disruptions for our clients.”

Moreover, Marais stressed that while Fliber recognises the municipality’s effort to enhance Newcastle by installing new water infrastructure, Fliber is urging them to undertake these improvements without compromising telecommunication infrastructure.

“In our interconnected world, where internet access is essential, and water is a basic necessity, it is crucial to find collaborative solutions that ensure neither service is adversely affected during the upliftment process. We understand the importance of upgrading water pipes for the community, but it should not come at the expense of reliable internet services,” concluded Marais.

With all of the above in mind, what are your thoughts? Share your views in the comment section below.