Teraco, a subsidiary of Digital Realty and provider of interconnection platforms and vendor-neutral colocation data centres, has announced a five-year extension of its support grant to the South African Broadband Education Networks (SABEN) through the Teraco Connect Foundation.
Originally initiated in 2020, the grant now extends until 2030, with a total investment of R17.5 million aimed at combating bandwidth poverty among schools and public TVET colleges across South Africa.
SABEN, a non-profit entity operating as part of South Africa’s National Research and Education Network (NREN), serves approximately 450,000 students across 267 campuses and 46 colleges. Its mission is to address the digital needs of these institutions, providing essential connectivity and content access to facilitate digital transformation.
The grant will enable SABEN to enhance its infrastructure in Teraco data centres located in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, offering colleges direct access to a vibrant ecosystem of content and cloud service providers. This connectivity supports remote learning, streaming, and other digital educational tools, laying a solid foundation for future digital strategies in education.
Garth Scholtz, SABEN’s General Manager, expressed appreciation for Teraco’s ongoing support, emphasising its importance in improving digital capabilities within educational institutions. He highlighted SABEN’s role in building capacity, supporting classroom technologies, and fostering skills development to help address South Africa’s skills shortage and promote socio-economic empowerment, especially among previously disadvantaged communities.
Jan Hnizdo, CEO of Teraco, underscored that this initiative aligns with broader efforts to modernise education in South Africa. He noted that investments in digital infrastructure will make remote learning and content streaming more efficient and accessible, ultimately contributing to the country’s future growth.
Scholtz reiterated the critical role of industry collaboration in closing the skills gap and promoting equitable development. He stressed that empowering educational institutions is vital for transforming South Africa’s economy, reducing inequality, and ensuring that disadvantaged populations can participate fully in the digital age. The support from Teraco exemplifies a strategic commitment to fostering inclusive growth and digital resilience in South Africa’s education sector.
