Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront’s investment in a new fibre optic infrastructure is expected to increase the property’s capacity for IT and communications.

According to David Green, CEO of the V&A Waterfront,“With the new fibre optic infrastructure we aim to provide the most advanced high-speed broadband access in South Africa and market parity, adding further appeal to businesses considering the V&A Waterfront as a base for their operations.”

In the past 18 months V&A Waterfront has erected intelligent buildings, revitalized the retail experience and also implemented a fibre optic project that will see a single trench policy introduced across the property.

The fibre optic backbone will be accessible to all their tenants and will enhance all IT and communication services. The Building Management System (BMS), CCTV and parking at the V&A Waterfront all currently run on the fibre optic infrastructure and a number of tenants are already making use of the network.

Both new and existing tenants will have access to high-speed connectivity, to fixed wire, wireless and GSM network operators of their choice. Tenants have the choice to use different service providers for different services, thereby ensuring greater cost effectiveness.

Furthermore, users will benefit from minimal disruption and increased operational efficiency. As there will be two MeetMe rooms, the model caters for redundancy ensuring uptime on the network and therefore increased productivity.

The fibre optic infrastructure development will circle the entire property and is being rolled out in three phases, with an anticipated site-wide roll out by the end of 2014. Phase one is complete and fully operational, with the new Allan Gray head office running on this network.

“Not only will tenants benefit from the enhanced IT services, but visitors to the property will also benefit from a Wi-Fi Cloud covering the entire Waterfront precinct,” says Green.

“More than 16 000 people work here on a daily basis,” he adds. “There are 450 plus world-class retailers and over 80 eateries, add to this one six-star, four five-star, three four-star and two three-star hotels, 40 business function rooms at 14 venues.

“There are 512 homes in the Marina alone. In addition to this, the property attracts 23-million visitors annually, both local and international. Taking all this into account, you start to see the vital role of improved connectivity and the positive impact it will have.”