Evotel shares wealth with Welkom community
Investing in the local community by employing locals to assist with network infrastructure build
Fibre Network Operator (FNO), Evotel, is making a significant contribution to the Welkom economy through its investment in employing local sub-contractors and labourers to build its fibre network infrastructure in the town and surrounding areas.
The company is busy installing an aerial fibre solution in the town, which is an upgrade to the traditional copper cable DSL solutions, to ensure reliable fast internet access to residents.
Unlike trenched solutions the aerial fibre installation is much quicker to install and is a lot easier to service and repair if needed. It makes use of already existing municipal infrastructure (lampposts) for the cable to be strung past residences. Where no municipal infrastructure is available, new poles will be installed to lay the fibre cable along.
“We have made it a priority to employ locals in all the towns that we install our fibre infrastructure and it is no different in Welkom. We have appointed a principle contractor, MTD Civils and Network Planning, to head up the installation of our aerial fibre solution in the town with a strict condition; that 30% of the labour be shared with local Welkom community run companies and labourers,” says Bradley Bekker, Evotel Head of Business Development.
Evotel’s moto: “Fibre for Everyone” is a clear indication of the company’s focus on improving people’s lives by providing access to fast and secure fibre internet connectivity to homes and businesses. As part of this caring culture, the company, furthermore, takes the step to truly invest in the towns they install their fibre network to uplift these communities in anyway it can.
“We believe in helping people and organisations to prosper and decided that with the rollout of our fibre network in Welkom we would employ locals to assist in building our network infrastructure and share in the wealth. It’s one of our ways of investing in the community and the town’s overall development,” adds Bekker.
“We have heeded Evotel’s call to employ local labourers to help with the installation of the fibre network project. I commend the company for ensuring that a percentage of the work is shared with local community members to share the wealth,” says Quintin Groenewald, CEO of MTD Civils and Network Planning.
Groenewald further notes that this move is not only assisting a number of the local community to earn an income, but that it also makes sense in terms of saving unnecessary costs, because very little equipment and building materials need to be brought in from far away, as it is already locally available.
Although the bulk of the work is short term, until the installation project is complete, Evotel is also training local youths on managing and looking after fibre infrastructure with the aim to employ them to maintain the fibre network in Welkom as a long-term solution.
https://evotel.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/27-May-2021-Vista-Newspaper.pdf
