Noenieput, a remote Northern Cape town with less than a thousand residents, has one police station servicing a widespread farming community. This remote outpost has not previously enjoyed Vodacom network coverage, but with the establishment of a Vodacom base station, police and border officers will be able to access the internet via mobile devices.
Vodacom has now provided connectivity to four towns in the Northern Cape
On 24th June, Noenieput officially went live, with the town’s police station being the last to receive connectivity. At a ceremony in Noenieput, Vodacom and the SAPS officially commemorated the new ‘connected’ police station.
Vodacom Business Chief Officer Vuyani Jarana says: 'Vodacom is delighted to have brought network coverage to Noenieput. This is the culmination of many years of work of feasibility studies and planning for the network infrastructure build. We continue to focus on bringing mobile connectivity to rural or underdeveloped areas, where it can serve as a catalyst to uplift communities such as Noenieput as well as assist in providing quality service delivery.'
One of the greatest challenges in rolling out the network infrastructure build was laying down electricity in an extremely remote location (the closest town Upington is 170km away) to keep the base station live. Vodacom has collocated with other network operators to address the infrastructure challenges. The base is powered with Solar Energy, which Vodacom have used to resolve the power issue due to the complexity that the sites posed due to the distance and infrastructure requirements.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba says: 'The South African Police Service in partnership with Vodacom came up with a solution to address our ongoing network problem. The new network system will make it easier for the general public to access the police station without delays and will enhance all efforts by the police to deliver the necessary services to the town.'
This will revolutionise access to information and services for the officers and the community. Vodacom is proud to partner with the South Africa Police Service in this project.
