Roadmap of the internet
January 6, 2026
SABEN’s Roadmap to World-Class Connectivity
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, January 2026
“We strive to deliver excellence” – Garth Scholtz
In a recent interview, SABEN’s General Manager, Garth Scholtz, explained how SABEN delivers broadband internet access to institutes of higher learning in remote locations across South Africa.
Scholtz used a roadmap as an analogy for how colleges are connected to SANReN: “You can imagine the SANReN network as being a system of highways in South Africa. Let’s use the N1, N7, N2 as an example. All of these highways meet up at some point… We are saying, we will provide you with a private road between your college campus server room to that highway and only your traffic is allowed to be carried on that private road.” This “private road” represents an uncontended connection – a connection only the college can use, with no other internet traffic allowed.
He started off by explaining SABEN’s role within education: “SABEN is a highly specialised entity; a non-profit company that connects predominantly public TVET colleges to a publicly-funded network called SANReN (South African National Research Network).”
Scholtz went on to explain that SABEN provides each education institute with a private and direct connection to SANReN. This not only provides each college with a reliable internet connection, but also provides access to the generous resources shared by important local and international research and education institutes.
Scholtz went on to explain SABEN connectivity in terms of real network speeds: “If we tell you that we’re connecting you at 500 Mbps, that means you’re getting 500 Mbps to your server room (500 Mbps upload, 500 Mbps download). That’s what we call unshaped traffic.”
SABEN’s “unshaped” internet doesn’t slow down when it’s used for high-intensity tasks like downloading lecture recordings or uploading large research data sets. The symmetrical nature of this connection means that users also enjoy equal upload and download speeds for smooth and consistent performance during tasks like video conferencing and VoIP calls.
In Scholtz’ words, “There’s a lot more bandwidth to go around inside the college classroom and more users are able to get more share of that bandwidth.”
A SABEN connection that meets an institution’s needs means that every student and staff member has enough bandwidth to perform their tasks and to perform them well. Without worrying about network throttling during peak hours or adhering to a maximum user numbers, institutes of higher learning can be confident in the fact that their internet connection is stable, reliable and generously available.
Watch the full interview with Garth Scholtz here: