For the 2009 general elections, Telkom again provided the telecommunications infrastructure for the Independent Electoral Commission’s National Results Centre in Pretoria and all its satellite offices across SA . While there were many challenges, teamwork made it happen.

 

Telkom has had a long and successful relationship with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Every five years, the company provides the backbone infrastructure to the IEC’s National Results Centre (NRC) in Pretoria and all of its satellite offices across the country.

 

To satisfy the IEC requirements, and due to an increase in voter numbers expected to turn out for the country’s 2009 national and provincial elections, Telkom significantly upgraded the IEC’s telecoms infrastructure, says Francina Kutoane, Telkom Senior Manager, Government Sales. In total, the telco provided over 300 VPN lines and 70 VSAT (very small aperture satellite) lines, enabling the connection of over 300 municipal elections offices to the IEC’s NRC.

 

WHAT IS THE IEC? The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is a permanent body created by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) to promote and safeguard democracy in South Africa. It is publicly funded and accountable to Parliament, yet independent of government. Its core function is the impartial management of free and fair elections in all areas of government. Powers. duties and functions • To manage national, provincial and local government elections, including referendums • Ensure that such elections are free and fair • Declare the results within seven days • Compile and maintain the National Common Voters’ Roll • Promote sound knowledge of democratic electoral processes • Promote voter education • Promote co-operation with and between persons, institutions, governments and administration for the achievement of its objectives. Source: www.elections.org.za

For the centre, which is tasked with, among other things, providing up-tothe- minute updates of election results, Telkom provided two 25Mb high-speed VPN circuits to the IEC to enable it to coordinate and relay real-time results. The company further provided the SABC with a 60Mb video broadcasting link. Domestic and international media had access to over 15 ADSL lines and more than 600 telephone line extensions from the results centre.

 

In total, Telkom provided the IEC with 304 VPN sites; 22 Diginet point-to-point links; 70 VSAT sites; 55 Primary Rate Interface channels; eight PABXs; five asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) links; 20 ADSL link, and over 100 Basic Rate Interface channels (BRIs).

 

“We also created a mirror image of the NRC, with all its activities replicated in real time,” says Kennedy Baloyi: Telkom Service Manager, Multinational Customers. “This operated as a back-up, if needed.”

 

CHALLENGES AND ADVANTAGES

 

“There were a number of challenges,” Baloyi continues. “Timelines were very tight - there were instances where Telkom could only access the venue two days before deadline. In some areas we even had to build new infrastructure. In one instance, we needed to create a mobile Telkom exchange. We had a month and worked to the last minute.”

 

Nevertheless, one of the major advantages of partnering with Telkom is the opportunity this affords customers to leverage infrastructure. VPN customers in particular can leverage the company’s national next-generation network backbone. Largely in place, in time for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Telkom continues to build out its NGN to spread coverage and build capacity.

 

BROADCASTING LINK Telkom also provided the saBc with a 60Mb video broadcasting linkage enabling the public broadcaster to feed content back to its headquarters in auckland Park. The local and international press had access to over 15 adsl lines and more than 600 telephone line extensions.

VPN Supreme is a quality of service-guaranteed, converged business communications network, deployed across a wide area. Based on a carrier-grade national IP-based broadband NGN, it provides a scalable, robust, future-proof enterprise backbone, proactively managed and accompanied by service-level guarantees of support, network performance and reliability. It offers economies of scale, doesn’t require buying private networking equipment and saves on the cost of multi-channel enterprise communications.

 

“Migrating the IEC infrastructure to a next generation network (NGN) allowed for extended coverage, enhanced real-time speed, quality of service and the ability to proactively manage systems,” says Francina. “The converged technology also allowed for data, voice and video transmission.”

 

OVERCOMING DIFFICULTY

 

It was a case of teamwork all round. The project included teams from Network Centre Operations, Special Events, Project Management, National Field Operations, DAS, Service Management, Telkom Business Solutions and commercial teams from voice and data. Libisi Maphanga, CIO of the IEC, says Telkom’s commitment was outstanding, with teams working all hours to meet the deadline. “People went out of their way to make it happen,” he says.

 

C O N T A C T

 

Libisi Maphanga
Chief Information officer: IEC
Tel: 012 428 5700
fax: 086 67222 55
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.elections.org.za

 

Nonku Dlamini
Executive: government sales, Telkom
Tel: 012 680 7172
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.telkom.co.za