Telecomms giant, TelOne, has launched the Bulawayo Data Centre and customer experience hub in a move set to improve data connectivity and customer interface in the Southern region.
The data centre, a first of its kind in the Matabeleland region, is part of TelOne’s product expansion drive which has seen the concern investing more than the US $4million since 2016.
ICT, Postal And Courier Services, Jenfan Muswere lauded the initiative saying it augers well with the government’s development strategy.
Muswere challenged Telone to be a leading telecom provider and be innovative.
“Our expectation is for you to secure 25% revenue market share, development of 10 new data-centric products and services, reduction in overhead expenses and infrastructure expansion and sharing. Specific to market share growth, I am sure your renewed focus on client experience will be helpful together with other key investments that are required,” Muswere said.
He noted that the Client Experience Centre speaks to the government’s goal of modernizing cities.
Boasting a total rack capacity of 120 Racks, the data centre has a total power capacity of 400kVA and is a Tier 3 Designed facility that offers redundancy for all critical components such as power, cooling, and other active equipment.
This will enable TelOne customers, who are large banks and financial organisations, telecommunication providers, private companies, government departments, and a range of information technology service providers, to enjoy highly customizable, fully managed, and secure disaster recovery hosting for carrier-grade IT resilience.
According to TelOne chairman, Dr Douglas Zimbango, Hillside was particularly prioritized to be the second in line to be revamped as it is one of the group’s bigger exchanges servicing a total of 6 500 clients from more than 10 surrounding suburbs for Voice Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Fiber to The Home (FTTH) and VSAT services from a capacity of 10 000.
Dr Zimbango said the data centres are an essential IT infrastructure underpinning our economic development, supporting our pillar sectors like financial services, telecommunications, and other industry sectors.
“They are also a key driving force to catalyse the development and adoption of e-business, digital government and smart city solutions that rely heavily on highly reliable and efficient computing facilities for technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things, 5G,” he noted.
The company has also partnered with a total of 12 banks to facilitate online payments for clients’ convenience through the use of USSD codes, especially at a time the world is battling COVID-19 which has made service provision taking and more digital inclination.
