Cape Town pipe dreams

IOL technology tease us with the following story:

"Cape Town residents can expect improved service delivery and cheaper access to Internet and telephone services by 2010 because the city plans to spend a whopping R400-million on its own broadband network.
By so doing, it will avoid huge costs to monopoly telecommunications provider Telkom. It will also be able to earn money off its own network by offering these services to the private sector.
It could save as much as R40-million in the first year in telecommunications costs to Telkom and cellphone providers while earning more than R12-million in its first two years of operation by selling access to its network.
The city spends more than R100-million a year on telecommunications services - 70 percent of it for voice and data communications.
Chairman of the council's portfolio committee on corporate services Stuart Pringle says that at least R30-million is spent on internal calls alone.
The city council unanimously agreed last Thursday, December 7, that, despite the huge costs, it would be well worth the benefits to residents. The city would be able to read water meters remotely, determine when a street light is about to fail, make patient information accessible in any clinic and process service delivery requests on behalf of other departments.
The city would be able to connect more than 220 public facilities including libraries, clinics and administrative buildings. Its benefits for the 2010 soccer World Cup would also be extensive.
The city will enter an initial planning phase, expected to cost R18-million, next month."