Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2018 | Page 18

TECHNOLOGY
Fibre to the Home
The new basic
amenity
BY MONIQUE DU TOIT
L
ong gone are the days of internet connectivity having a
place on the “special features” list of a home. With estate
living continuing to thrive in South Africa, developers
have come to realise that homeowners no longer see connec-
tivity as a nice-to-have. Instead, it’s become a basic amenity for
any new development.
Slowly but surely creeping into homes across the country,
fibre to the home (FTTH) has been touted one of the key in-
novations of our time. Enabling a host of nifty features linked
to a smart home, at its core FTTH offers users a smoother and
faster internet experience.
Juanita Clark, CEO of FTTH Council Africa explains:
“Today we live in an always-on, always-available world. While
mobile communication provides us with the ability to socialise
through sms, WhatsApp, Facebook, and verbal communica-
tion on the go, anywhere and at any time, the aim of FTTH
is not just focussed on these applications. FTTH considers
other aspects such as smart homes and villages, security, en-
tertainment, over the top/ triple play services (voice, video and
data). In addition, with more people working from home and
needing to access remote bandwidth-intensive applications,
FTTH will soon not be a luxury.”
While this may very well be true, fibre is still considered
to be an expensive option when it comes to connectivity. The
good news for estates or any new build is that the most expen-
sive a