Paratus Namibia has entered into a Master Lease Agreement with Demshi Investment Holdings (Pty) aimed at expanding its network reach across crucial Namibian regions.
Demshi Investment Holdings (Pty) Managing Director Werner Shilunga told The Brief the agreement , which was signed on Monday, allows Paratus access to Demshi’s open-access fibre network at Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Windhoek (Khomasdal).
This will enhance the company’s ability to provide high-speed internet services to customers. He said the lease period has no fixed value.
However, “based on the number of home passes, if Paratus occupies 30% of the total home passes, this would equate to approximately N$24 million annually”.
“Demshi and Paratus undertook network testing in Walvis Bay which were very successful and demonstrated the reliability of the Demshi Fibre network. At the moment, the Walvis Bay Fibre network is live and covering 3500 house passes, the largest fibre network in Walvis Bay,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Swakopmund fibre network will go live in mid-August with a comprehensive investment of N$38 million covering Matutura, Tamariskia, and Mondesa.
“We have built a 12 rack two tier mini-data centre in Swakopmund that will be our POP in Swakopmund and also used for colocating other ISP on the Demshi fibre network. The Swakopmund fibre network has 6800 house passes which makes it the largest fibre network in Swakopmund,” said Shilunga.
This comes a Demshi has deployed a fibre network in the entire Khomasdal area with 6000 house passes in Windhoek.
“The Windhoek network is still under construction with the team on the ground busy with fibre blowing and splicing. We have commissioned a POP in Windhoek in the B1 area next to Paratus and Multichoice POP at the Hosiana Church. The Windhoek network is anticipated to go live end of August,” he said.
Shilunga highlighted that the signing of the Master lease agreement with Paratus marks a momentous occasion for Demshi and demonstrates the confidence that Paratus, who is a major ISP player in Namibia, has in their network.
This comes as Demshi aims to connect 100,000 Namibian households to its fibre optic network by 2027.
To achieve this, the company plans to invest approximately N$104 million in expanding its infrastructure across the country.
Demshi Telco has signed two Master Service Agreements, one with Echo Telecommunications and a second with Information Technology Guru Solutions which have prominence in the coastal towns of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.
