Not "reinventing the wheel" GAUTENG`S broadband project, variously known as Gauteng Link (G Link) or Blue Umbrella, is not a R35 billion attempt to reinvent the wheel, says premier Mbhazima Shilowa. Rather, it is a measured move to integrate existing private and public networks to the benefit of all.

Shilowa says the scheme, now to be implemented by the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC) as part of a wider e-government campaign, is about integration.

"It is less about the money, it is less about the financing," Shilowa told journalists.

"Nothing is holding up G Link. It is a complicated process. Everyone has broadband. The problem is not the provision of broadband, it is how do we ensure it is integrated, how do we ensure it is used for the improvement of services that we require, how do we use it to ensure currently under-serviced areas are reached."

The Financial Mail recently quoted Gauteng`s head of e-government, Warren Hero, as saying "rudimentary estimates show the cost of the project could be anything from R15 billion to R35 billion". The journal noted the scale of the project was "enormous" and would see Gauteng spend more "than Telkom rival Neotel will spend in the next decade on its national network deployment".

But Shilowa says G Link is nothing this lavish. "Everyone wants to improve this issue of broadband and everyone has plans. Telkom has plans that they are now rolling out, so is Eskom, so is Vodacom, so is Neotel, so is MTN. Then there is Gauteng online and the municipalities."

He adds that Gauteng - as the economic powerhouse of Africa - needs an integrated broadband strategy that the business community could buy into rather than "the haphazard implementation we have now".

Shilowa also scotched reports of tensions between local government and the province on broadband.