{"id":28244,"date":"2022-08-22T16:41:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T16:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g"},"modified":"2022-08-22T17:01:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T17:01:48","slug":"city-marches-forward-with-5g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g","title":{"rendered":"City marches forward with 5G"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran), the Windhoek municipality has refused to budge and will continue with its 5G aspirations.<\/p>\n

The project seeks to commercialise its fibre optic network infrastructure to provide telecommunications services within the geographical area of the city by July 2023. The licence was granted in 2020.<\/p>\n

The decision to march forward was taken during an ordinary council meeting held on 10 August 2022.<\/p>\n

Certain quarters within and outside the municipality say the telecommunications sphere is beyond the city\u2019s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there is an equally strong push by those who harbour the idea of transforming Windhoek into a smart city.<\/p>\n

There are allegations that councillors and some officials were bribed to block the dream from seeing the light of day.<\/p>\n

The telecommunications licence is said to be at the heart of a breakdown of the relationship between Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), Landless People\u2019s Movement (LPM) and Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement councillors.<\/p>\n

AR and LPM are said to be staunch advocates of the 5G dream, while the IPC is opposed to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA council meeting was held on 10 August, and it was resolved that the project continues,\u201d city spokesperson Harold Akwenye responded.<\/p>\n

Authority<\/p>\n

According to Cran, the metropolitan has been given a deadline within which to commercialise its fibre optic network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe application was already considered. Hence, it will not lapse. As indicated, the CoW has until 22 July 2023 to commence providing services,\u201d Cran boss Emilia Nghikembua said.<\/p>\n

She, however, hastened to add that Cran\u2019s decision to award the Class Comprehensive Telecommunications Service Licence has been challenged by Paratus Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd.<\/p>\n

Paratus filed a review application in the High Court to set the decision aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe application is yet to be heard and determined by the Honourable Court. The authority is not defending the application; we have simply filed the record and pertinent information to assist the court in making a decision. We shall abide by the decision,\u201d Nghikembua asserted.<\/p>\n

Smart city<\/p>\n

Through the project, the city has set its sights on saving money by improving efficiency and reducing waste.<\/p>\n

It is also the city\u2019s objective to improve constituent services, public safety, environmental conditions and the overall quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors\u201d, Akwenye stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project seeks to reduce crime through the use of a safety application aimed at providing smart panic button-based crime management solutions. This will ensure that the City Police are provided with accurate location information. This will introduce efficient services and crime prevention,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Moving towards becoming a smart city, \u201cthis project seeks to provide access to the internet at designated points in the city, e.g. public libraries, schools, universities, informal settlements, main routes, business districts, airports and other entry points into the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dire straits<\/p>\n

Akwenye conceded that the city finds itself in a precarious financial position.<\/p>\n

A glance at the city\u2019s financial records shows it is sitting with a cumulative loss of N$3.2 billion in the last decade, a N$300 million wage bill, N$100 million annual employee vehicle scheme, and N$70 million losses on bus services and a lifelong post-retirement medical aid scheme.<\/p>\n

Last year, the municipality\u2019s losses amounted to N$480 million. This takes the total losses to N$3.2 billion.<\/p>\n

Worse is that the city relies on a monthly N$200 million overdraft facility to remain afloat from month to month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis constraint has a bearing on the institution\u2019s organisational capabilities, processes, systems, financial management and reporting, and ultimately customer satisfaction,\u201d Akwenye observed.<\/p>\n

Windhoek is pinning its hopes on the 5G initiative in a bid to transform its financial trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project will also serve as an additional revenue stream in response to the current financial situation. This project will undoubtedly contribute towards the city\u2019s long-term financial sustainability,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Currently, the council relies on land sales, rates and taxes, as well as water and electricity for income to sustain itself.<\/p>\n

On the downside, the exorbitant costs of municipal services exceed the average income levels of most households.<\/p>\n

The city says increasing its rates is not an option amidst the ongoing economic challenges, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative that council explores alternative revenue streams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Globetrotters<\/p>\n

While the city\u2019s dire financial position is an open secret, unending travelling by officials and councillors has been seen as a slap in the face for its residents, who foot the bill.<\/p>\n

Recently, AR councillor Job Amupanda flew to Jamaica on an official trip.<\/p>\n

He was accompanied by an official after IPC councillor Ndeshihafela Larandja pulled out of the excursion on health grounds.<\/p>\n

The trip is said to have cost the city over N$300 000. The money was used to cater for flight tickets, accommodation and subsistence allowances (S&T).<\/p>\n

What was striking is the S&T, which alone amounted to N$93 608.<\/p>\n

Other trips saw councillors and officials jet off to Germany, and recently, Singapore.<\/p>\n

Akwenye defended the travelling, saying it is through those platforms that Windhoek is able to cooperate in areas such as urban planning, public safety, water and waste management systems, tourism, sports and cultural heritage, waste management, investments, trade and commerce with like-minded cities.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran), the Windhoek municipality has refused to budge and will continue with its 5G aspirations. The project seeks to commercialise its fibre optic network infrastructure to provide telecommunications services within the geographical area of the city by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-28244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nCity marches forward with 5G - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"City marches forward with 5G\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"City marches forward with 5G\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\"},\"wordCount\":882,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\",\"name\":\"City marches forward with 5G - Namibia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":479,\"caption\":\"City marches forward with 5G\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"City marches forward with 5G\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\",\"name\":\"Namibia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"City marches forward with 5G - Namibia","description":"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"City marches forward with 5G","og_description":"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g","og_site_name":"Namibia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":479,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"City marches forward with 5G","datePublished":"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g"},"wordCount":882,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg","keywords":["africa press","Africa Press-Namibia","namibia"],"articleSection":["all news","community","homepage-english","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g","name":"City marches forward with 5G - Namibia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-22T16:41:26+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-22T17:01:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Notwithstanding external pressure to cancel its telecommunications licence with the Communications Regulatory Authority ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_14-6303b66b89ba7.jpg","width":720,"height":479,"caption":"City marches forward with 5G"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/city-marches-forward-with-5g#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"City marches forward with 5G"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/","name":"Namibia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}