Although all the hype and excitement exists, we still have a number of Challenges in our industry today, so, over the next few days I will be sharing specific information around the Regulatory Issues affecting Voice over IP in South Africa. Important to know, even more important to Share!
I will be covering topics such as:
- Interconnect Fees
- Facilities Leasing
- Carrier Pre-select
- Number Portability
- Frequency Allocation
- Local Loop Unbundling
I am really going to encourage you to share your comments and thoughts with me on this one, and welcome any input from fellow members.
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Part 1) Interconnect Fees
Interconnect Fees
With the incumbent mobile operators set to drop interconnect rates even further in 2011, converged communications providers are preparing to take advantage of a more competitive voice market.
The drop in the interconnect rate, while not as substantial as many would have hoped will have far reaching effects for the local market, as a decrease in rates will mean a concurrent drop in mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-fixed line voice rates. It also opens up the market to competition, as the crossover interconnect rates to other operator networks will become more affordable, meaning smaller players will have lower cost barriers to enter the market.
But what does this drop in the GSM network rates mean for Voice Over IP (VoIP), a technology driven by a cheap on-net call rate value proposition? Honestly the drop in interconnect rates could hurt the VoIP value proposition in the mobile space, but there is more to this than meets the eye.
While it has not been an easy birth, advanced technology has allowed local VoIP providers to survive and even thrive in the high interconnect rate environment. Internet Solutions for example already terminates 40,000,000 VoIP minutes a month. This is testament to South Africa’s ability to provision world class VoIP services in the face of huge hurdles, which offers great value when using on-net voice minutes.
Additionally, the nature of VoIP made it an ideal disruptive technology for smaller players to disintermediate the mobile operators, drawing off-net voice minutes on-net over IP networks at vastly reduced rates. With more people using mobile devices as converged communication tools the potential for mobile VoIP services is growing rapidly, so the market has seen a number of service providers look to move into the mobile VoIP market, a trend driven largely by the massive growth in Wi-Fi technology and accessibility.
A prime global example is AT&T, the biggest voice data carrier in the world, who has allowed iPhone users to use the phone’s technology to terminate VoIP calls, a tectonic shift in the voice industry paradigm. By bringing VoIP into the mobile model AT&T has taken what was generally a cottage industry and, practically overnight made it mainstream. However, with the drop in interconnect rates the need to disintermediate has diminished somewhat, which will be viewed negatively by some. VANS and ECNS providers that offer off-net voice services will now have less of a hurdle to enter the market, causing the disintermediation approach of using disruptive technologies to penetrate markets to lose its appeal.
So, with the current interconnect rate of 89c dropping to 65c in early 2011, which is a substantial drop at 27%, the rate will need to be reduced even further to negate the need to disintermediate the incumbent mobile operators and make the marketplace more competitive. Interconnect rates of around 5 to 10c is ultimately the level the industry needs to reach to really open up the market to price competition from new entrants. In the meantime service providers with sustainable mass on their networks will continue to expand their offerings by augmenting VoIP into their basket of products and services. This is especially true for Least Cost Routing (LCR) service providers, who stand to lose the most should interconnect rates drop further. To survive and offer competitive costs they will need to diversify their voice offerings by augmenting VoIP into their offerings, rather than remaining with blended off-net LCR.
It’s clear to see that there are a number of confluencing events that will make life more difficult for mobile operators, but will benefit South African consumers and the economy. It is estimated that an interconnect rate of 60c can add 1% of GDP growth to the local economy, which is materially good for the country. Lower call rates, be it due to a drop in fixed line and mobile rates, or the increased adoption of VoIP technology will mean companies can conduct more efficient business. And with the introduction of the next generation 4G/LTE mobile network, which is IP multimedia system enabled, the networks will become IP compliant, enabling VoIP over mobile networks, providing further impetus for the move towards a VoIP world.
So, all in all the net gain from the drop in interconnect rates is beneficial for VoIP, especially mobile VoIP, as there is a great deal of room to grow the number of VoIP minutes terminated over off-net networks. Currently the fixed line market is around R20 billion and mobile voice services generate around R80 billion in revenue. With VoIP only accounting for a small percentage of that and interconnect rates not coming down to a level that will truly open up the market, new technologies and a need for cheaper voice calls will continue to place VoIP services at the frontline of the disintermediation battle.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tackling SME disconnectivity
The SA government, through the Universal Services and Access Agency of SA, needs to put a concerted effort to judiciously apply the many millions of rands available to it in order to help solve the problem of lack connectivity that is inhibiting growth of the SME sector. So said World Wide Worx principal researcher, Arthur Goldstuck, presenting the findings of the 2010 SME Survey at the Sandton Convention Centre yesterday.
The survey discovered that the South African SME sector is finding it difficult to breakthrough into profitability because it lacks connectivity. Goldstuck said it only make sense for government to give back to the SME sector because telcos were already contributing money to the agency. “What is required is for the agency to be given direction on where best to spend it – and that is clearly in connecting the unconnected,” he said.
“The digital divide is not always the divide between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in the consumer market, but connectivity also plays a pivotal role in business, especially for the emerging businesses,” Goldstuck said.
He blamed Telkom's 15-year monopoly in the telecommunication sector for the widening gap between emerging businesses and their established counterparts.
Alarming statistics
The survey found out that more than a third (37%) of emerging SMEs in SA do not have Internet connectivity at all. According to Goldstuck, this alarming statistic jumped out at the researchers due to the significance of its impact on SME growth. He suggested that this only increases the obligations on government and telco operators to explore ways of bringing affordable Internet access to the emerging SME sector.
He added that the telcos also need to put more effort into rolling out services in these underprivileged areas.
“Everyone harps on about the fact that the cost of data has come down dramatically, but this is of no use if the infrastructure does not exist. And if anything, infrastructure costs have gone up as operators try to deliver services to a wider geographic area.”
Goldstuck also pointed out that these new statistics have come about through a change in the overall sample used in the survey. “By gaining insight into the emerging SME market, we have been able to get a far better sense of the differences between this segment and the more established SMEs. The comparison between these two shows that the digital divide exists among small businesses as much as it exists among the general public,” he noted.
The survey found out that of those that are connected, double the proportion of emerging SMEs (6%) as established ones (3%) use 3G as their primary means of connectivity. A further 2% in each of these categories uses their cellphones, in the form of GPRS connectivity, as their primary form of access.
“ADSL has long been accepted as being the most cost-effective and efficient form of access for the SME sector. It is here that we once again see enormous discrepancies between the two sides of the SME market.
“Of the established SMEs, 74% are using ADSL, while only 51% of the emerging market does the same,” said Goldstuck.
Death of dial-up
The one positive that the survey recognises, he pointed out, is the fact that the death of dial-up – predicted already four years ago in previous editions of the survey – has all but become a reality.
Only around 2% of the emerging sector and 1% of the established market still utilise this means of connectivity, the survey determined.
“It could also be viewed as a positive that half of the emerging SME market makes use of ADSL. However, the fact that half still do not have access to ADSL signifies just how much work remains to be done.”
“While the cost benefits for SMEs using ADSL are well understood, there remains a clear lack of penetration for fixed-line and ADSL in many disadvantaged areas,” concluded Goldstuck.
Speaking during the same event, Steven Ngubeni CEO of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), who sponsored the survey, concurred with Goldstuck, saying there is also a direct correlation between connectivity and profitability because businesses that have connectivity are able to respond much quicker to business opportunities.
“The NYDA has, therefore, recognised the need to pursue partnerships with telecommunications organisations in order to complement the existing business support vouchers and provide a complete solution,” said Ngubeni.
The survey discovered that the South African SME sector is finding it difficult to breakthrough into profitability because it lacks connectivity. Goldstuck said it only make sense for government to give back to the SME sector because telcos were already contributing money to the agency. “What is required is for the agency to be given direction on where best to spend it – and that is clearly in connecting the unconnected,” he said.
“The digital divide is not always the divide between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in the consumer market, but connectivity also plays a pivotal role in business, especially for the emerging businesses,” Goldstuck said.
He blamed Telkom's 15-year monopoly in the telecommunication sector for the widening gap between emerging businesses and their established counterparts.
Alarming statistics
The survey found out that more than a third (37%) of emerging SMEs in SA do not have Internet connectivity at all. According to Goldstuck, this alarming statistic jumped out at the researchers due to the significance of its impact on SME growth. He suggested that this only increases the obligations on government and telco operators to explore ways of bringing affordable Internet access to the emerging SME sector.
He added that the telcos also need to put more effort into rolling out services in these underprivileged areas.
“Everyone harps on about the fact that the cost of data has come down dramatically, but this is of no use if the infrastructure does not exist. And if anything, infrastructure costs have gone up as operators try to deliver services to a wider geographic area.”
Goldstuck also pointed out that these new statistics have come about through a change in the overall sample used in the survey. “By gaining insight into the emerging SME market, we have been able to get a far better sense of the differences between this segment and the more established SMEs. The comparison between these two shows that the digital divide exists among small businesses as much as it exists among the general public,” he noted.
The survey found out that of those that are connected, double the proportion of emerging SMEs (6%) as established ones (3%) use 3G as their primary means of connectivity. A further 2% in each of these categories uses their cellphones, in the form of GPRS connectivity, as their primary form of access.
“ADSL has long been accepted as being the most cost-effective and efficient form of access for the SME sector. It is here that we once again see enormous discrepancies between the two sides of the SME market.
“Of the established SMEs, 74% are using ADSL, while only 51% of the emerging market does the same,” said Goldstuck.
Death of dial-up
The one positive that the survey recognises, he pointed out, is the fact that the death of dial-up – predicted already four years ago in previous editions of the survey – has all but become a reality.
Only around 2% of the emerging sector and 1% of the established market still utilise this means of connectivity, the survey determined.
“It could also be viewed as a positive that half of the emerging SME market makes use of ADSL. However, the fact that half still do not have access to ADSL signifies just how much work remains to be done.”
“While the cost benefits for SMEs using ADSL are well understood, there remains a clear lack of penetration for fixed-line and ADSL in many disadvantaged areas,” concluded Goldstuck.
Speaking during the same event, Steven Ngubeni CEO of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), who sponsored the survey, concurred with Goldstuck, saying there is also a direct correlation between connectivity and profitability because businesses that have connectivity are able to respond much quicker to business opportunities.
“The NYDA has, therefore, recognised the need to pursue partnerships with telecommunications organisations in order to complement the existing business support vouchers and provide a complete solution,” said Ngubeni.
Cheap high-speed mobile broadband: A tutorial by the GSMA
The GSMA gives some tips on how to make fast, cheap mobile broadband a reality in South Africa
“Extremely affordable” mobile broadband services can be had in South Africa, if only a few stumbling blocks are cleared out of the way. So said Ross Bateson, special government adviser at GSM Association (GSMA) during an interview at the AfricaCom conference which was recently held in Cape Town.
Timely allocation of harmonised spectrum is the single biggest problem, Bateson said, but he also identified issues such as drawn out environmental impact assessments and the taxation system on imports in South Africa.
Harmonised spectrum explained
Harmonised spectrum, Bateson explains, means the operational frequency of transmitters and end point devices (such as phones and modems) in South Africa need to be in line with global and regional norms.
An example of an international norm South Africa should adhere to is the so-called “Option 1” configuration of the much sought-after 2.6 GHz frequency band. This band is being used world-wide for the deployment of high-speed mobile broadband technologies such as LTE and WiMAX, Bateson said.
Bateson warned that South Africa should steer clear of trying to roll-out those technologies in bands that the rest of the world isn't using, as it will increase the price of consumer devices or result in devices not being supported on networks at all. He also warned that South Africa shouldn't try to develop a unique band plan, but should adhere as closely as possible to the “Option 1” recommendation as set out by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Currently this is impossible in South Africa as a large chunk of the precious 2.6 GHZ spectrum is occupied by Sentech, with a smaller piece belonging to iBurst's Wireless Business Solutions (WBS).
A regional norm South Africa would have to consider very soon is SADC's decision on a digital terrestrial television standard. Proponents of the Japanese ISDB-T and European DVB-T digital broadcasting standards have been doing battle in South Africa for the last few months when the DoC re-opened the debate on which standard SA should use for terrestrial (i.e. not satellite or cable) broadcasts.
An SADC task team is currently evaluating various digital broadcasting standards and is set to report their recommendations on 22 November. Bateson said that the “important thing is to act in a harmonised manner with the rest of SADC” to minimise issues like cross-border interference.
Allocating spectrum
Bateson added that the decision of DTT standard needs to be made sooner rather than later as it's a major obstacle to the roll-out of affordable mobile broadband to rural areas. Once digital broadcasting begins and analog broadcasts are turned off, a valuable portion of spectrum known as the digital dividend becomes available in the frequency bands where analog TV broadcasts from the SABC, e.tv and M-Net used to occur.
This spectrum is so valuable because of it's low frequency compared to bands like 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz. Among other benefits, lower frequencies allow for a single base station to cover a larger area.
Digital dividend spectrum and the 2.6 GHz band will be the first frequencies in which LTE roll-outs occur, said Bateson.
Choosing the right technology
While spectrum remains the greatest stumbling block to the wider deployment of high-speed mobile broadband networks, Bateson said that choosing the right technology is the greatest factor to making access more affordable.
The most affordable broadband comes from mass-market broadband products, Bateson said. To drive down prices it's important to create a marketplace that's as large as possible. “It's very important that I can take advantage of the global market place,” Bateson said. According to Bateson, HSPA and HSPA+ is currently the mass-market broadband standard and in future it will be LTE and TD-LTE.
Bateson noted that regardless of the technologies operators are using currently, almost all have upgrade paths to LTE or TD-LTE. The battle between WiMAX and LTE is over and the industry is backing LTE, Bateson said.
- My Broadband, Jan Vermeulen
“Extremely affordable” mobile broadband services can be had in South Africa, if only a few stumbling blocks are cleared out of the way. So said Ross Bateson, special government adviser at GSM Association (GSMA) during an interview at the AfricaCom conference which was recently held in Cape Town.
Timely allocation of harmonised spectrum is the single biggest problem, Bateson said, but he also identified issues such as drawn out environmental impact assessments and the taxation system on imports in South Africa.
Harmonised spectrum explained
Harmonised spectrum, Bateson explains, means the operational frequency of transmitters and end point devices (such as phones and modems) in South Africa need to be in line with global and regional norms.
An example of an international norm South Africa should adhere to is the so-called “Option 1” configuration of the much sought-after 2.6 GHz frequency band. This band is being used world-wide for the deployment of high-speed mobile broadband technologies such as LTE and WiMAX, Bateson said.
Bateson warned that South Africa should steer clear of trying to roll-out those technologies in bands that the rest of the world isn't using, as it will increase the price of consumer devices or result in devices not being supported on networks at all. He also warned that South Africa shouldn't try to develop a unique band plan, but should adhere as closely as possible to the “Option 1” recommendation as set out by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Currently this is impossible in South Africa as a large chunk of the precious 2.6 GHZ spectrum is occupied by Sentech, with a smaller piece belonging to iBurst's Wireless Business Solutions (WBS).
A regional norm South Africa would have to consider very soon is SADC's decision on a digital terrestrial television standard. Proponents of the Japanese ISDB-T and European DVB-T digital broadcasting standards have been doing battle in South Africa for the last few months when the DoC re-opened the debate on which standard SA should use for terrestrial (i.e. not satellite or cable) broadcasts.
An SADC task team is currently evaluating various digital broadcasting standards and is set to report their recommendations on 22 November. Bateson said that the “important thing is to act in a harmonised manner with the rest of SADC” to minimise issues like cross-border interference.
Allocating spectrum
Bateson added that the decision of DTT standard needs to be made sooner rather than later as it's a major obstacle to the roll-out of affordable mobile broadband to rural areas. Once digital broadcasting begins and analog broadcasts are turned off, a valuable portion of spectrum known as the digital dividend becomes available in the frequency bands where analog TV broadcasts from the SABC, e.tv and M-Net used to occur.
This spectrum is so valuable because of it's low frequency compared to bands like 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz. Among other benefits, lower frequencies allow for a single base station to cover a larger area.
Digital dividend spectrum and the 2.6 GHz band will be the first frequencies in which LTE roll-outs occur, said Bateson.
Choosing the right technology
While spectrum remains the greatest stumbling block to the wider deployment of high-speed mobile broadband networks, Bateson said that choosing the right technology is the greatest factor to making access more affordable.
The most affordable broadband comes from mass-market broadband products, Bateson said. To drive down prices it's important to create a marketplace that's as large as possible. “It's very important that I can take advantage of the global market place,” Bateson said. According to Bateson, HSPA and HSPA+ is currently the mass-market broadband standard and in future it will be LTE and TD-LTE.
Bateson noted that regardless of the technologies operators are using currently, almost all have upgrade paths to LTE or TD-LTE. The battle between WiMAX and LTE is over and the industry is backing LTE, Bateson said.
- My Broadband, Jan Vermeulen
Microsoft's Lync fills gaps in VoIP
Despite the name change and hype around its dramatic release candidate and RTM version, the net significance of Microsoft's Lync 2010 release is that it brings the company's unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) platform up to par in some areas with competitors – though it doesn't slingshot past them, experts say.
In particular, additions of VoIP features such as support for E911, better call control and survivable branch infrastructure fill gaps that existed in Lync's predecessor, Office Communications Server. "Some customers will now be ready to look at Lync" for telephony, says Art Schoeller, an analyst with Forrester Research.
Microsoft Lync: What you need to know
"They're much closer to the point where a customer could decide to use Lync for voice and expect reliability and business-class capabilities," says Melanie Turek, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan.
Other vendors – Avaya, Cisco, IBM and Siemens – do better in video, social networking and collaboration with their UC&C platforms, Turek says, but those features are less urgent needs than voice for most customers. Microsoft still has time to develop Lync capabilities in these areas because customers aren't ready to adopt them wholesale. "Microsoft had to spend a lot of time getting parity with voice," she says.
Survivable branch capabilities are key to Microsoft in Lync, Schoeller says. Devices in branch offices that can reconnect to the traditional public phone network when SIP trunks supporting VoIP fail represent a significant addition to Microsoft's offering that Lync provides. The appliances reconnect these branches to the outside world, but also keep local VoIP calls flowing when the branch is cut off from the main Lync Server located in a remote data center, he says.
"This is an area where Microsoft has been playing catch-up. Everyone asks can Lync replace a PBX? Customers may now be willing to consider it," he says.
But they won't trust it without proof, so it may have to be on the market for a couple of years and proven with large-scale deployments by early adopters to win over business telecommunications decision makers. "Telecom tends to be conservative. I'd like to see deployments with 5,000 to 10,000 users," Schoeller says.
Much of Lync's success may depend on how customers look at phasing in UC&C, says Osterman Research in its white paper, "Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and the Unified Communications Market." The infrastructure that customers already have and the new capabilities they need immediately will have an influence.
"For example, should an organization use its existing PBX as the starting point and then add capabilities like video conferencing, e-mail, mobility and presence into that infrastructure? Should it begin with its e-mail system and then slowly add IM/presence, audio conferencing and then finally enterprise voice into the mix? Should it choose a middle route and preserve its e-mail and PBX infrastructures as they are now and simply "glue" them together to provide unified communications capabilities?" Osterman says.
Microsoft and its competitors are vying for control of the customer's desktops, which will be the key to which UC&C platforms businesses adopt over time, Schoeller says. Cisco's client, for example, supports the Lync backend servers. "Both product sets are lining up more and more side-by-side," he says.
In reality, most businesses use what Turek calls best of breed for communications, messaging and collaboration so they may use a mix of products from multiple vendors. With sizeable investments in PBXs and IP-PBXs, customers will be reluctant to rip and replace that gear. As a result, customers may delay decisions three to seven years as they wait for their existing infrastructure to live out its usefulness.
Microsoft touts that it has an integrated suite of collaboration and messaging tools, but its competitors such as Avaya and Cisco recognize its popularity and also integrate with Microsoft offerings, Schoeller says. "If they buy into Microsoft's suite and there's more integration out of the box, that's good," he says. "I'm not going to say it's a dramatic advantage. It's an incremental not a dramatic improvement when you stay within the suite."
Ultimately, it may make no difference which vendor has the most complete set of UC&C features, he says, because customers haven't demonstrated demand for all of them. "How many people are not using instant messaging?" he says. "You walk into video conference rooms and the camera is idle. How many people save cell phone minutes by calling from Wi-Fi hotspots?"
In particular, additions of VoIP features such as support for E911, better call control and survivable branch infrastructure fill gaps that existed in Lync's predecessor, Office Communications Server. "Some customers will now be ready to look at Lync" for telephony, says Art Schoeller, an analyst with Forrester Research.
Sprint Provides Mobile Robust Network Access Solutions: Download now
Microsoft Lync: What you need to know
"They're much closer to the point where a customer could decide to use Lync for voice and expect reliability and business-class capabilities," says Melanie Turek, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan.
Other vendors – Avaya, Cisco, IBM and Siemens – do better in video, social networking and collaboration with their UC&C platforms, Turek says, but those features are less urgent needs than voice for most customers. Microsoft still has time to develop Lync capabilities in these areas because customers aren't ready to adopt them wholesale. "Microsoft had to spend a lot of time getting parity with voice," she says.
Survivable branch capabilities are key to Microsoft in Lync, Schoeller says. Devices in branch offices that can reconnect to the traditional public phone network when SIP trunks supporting VoIP fail represent a significant addition to Microsoft's offering that Lync provides. The appliances reconnect these branches to the outside world, but also keep local VoIP calls flowing when the branch is cut off from the main Lync Server located in a remote data center, he says.
"This is an area where Microsoft has been playing catch-up. Everyone asks can Lync replace a PBX? Customers may now be willing to consider it," he says.
But they won't trust it without proof, so it may have to be on the market for a couple of years and proven with large-scale deployments by early adopters to win over business telecommunications decision makers. "Telecom tends to be conservative. I'd like to see deployments with 5,000 to 10,000 users," Schoeller says.
Much of Lync's success may depend on how customers look at phasing in UC&C, says Osterman Research in its white paper, "Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and the Unified Communications Market." The infrastructure that customers already have and the new capabilities they need immediately will have an influence.
"For example, should an organization use its existing PBX as the starting point and then add capabilities like video conferencing, e-mail, mobility and presence into that infrastructure? Should it begin with its e-mail system and then slowly add IM/presence, audio conferencing and then finally enterprise voice into the mix? Should it choose a middle route and preserve its e-mail and PBX infrastructures as they are now and simply "glue" them together to provide unified communications capabilities?" Osterman says.
Microsoft and its competitors are vying for control of the customer's desktops, which will be the key to which UC&C platforms businesses adopt over time, Schoeller says. Cisco's client, for example, supports the Lync backend servers. "Both product sets are lining up more and more side-by-side," he says.
In reality, most businesses use what Turek calls best of breed for communications, messaging and collaboration so they may use a mix of products from multiple vendors. With sizeable investments in PBXs and IP-PBXs, customers will be reluctant to rip and replace that gear. As a result, customers may delay decisions three to seven years as they wait for their existing infrastructure to live out its usefulness.
Microsoft touts that it has an integrated suite of collaboration and messaging tools, but its competitors such as Avaya and Cisco recognize its popularity and also integrate with Microsoft offerings, Schoeller says. "If they buy into Microsoft's suite and there's more integration out of the box, that's good," he says. "I'm not going to say it's a dramatic advantage. It's an incremental not a dramatic improvement when you stay within the suite."
Ultimately, it may make no difference which vendor has the most complete set of UC&C features, he says, because customers haven't demonstrated demand for all of them. "How many people are not using instant messaging?" he says. "You walk into video conference rooms and the camera is idle. How many people save cell phone minutes by calling from Wi-Fi hotspots?"
Cheap cellphone to cellphone VoIP calls growing
VoIP solutions aimed at smartphone users means low-cost or free VoIP calls may start to threaten cellular providers
Over the last few years the cost of mobile communications has received a fair amount of attention, culminating in mobile call termination rate cuts this year – with further cuts planned for the next three years.
These interconnect rate cuts have resulted in some call rate reductions, but many industry experts have warned that lower interconnect rates will not necessarily translate into lower retail costs.
Competition is the greatest force to drive down prices and the entrance of 8ta into the local market has already resulted in lower call rates.
The biggest competitive forces may not come from the cellular providers themselves, but rather from new Voice-over-IP initiatives which are starting to penetrate the market.
Balancingact-Africa has recently reported that Internet Solutions is already offering its corporate customers a SIP client on their mobile phones that looks for the nearest Wi-Fi hot-spot to route traffic over the Wi-Fi network rather than the cellular network.
"So whether the individual is on the company premises with a hot-spot or near one while he or she is outside the company premises, then their phone will use the Wi-Fi hot-spot rather than the 3G mobile network. Since Internet Solutions controls 80% of the South African hot-spot business, it has made payment alliances with a wide range of the hot-spot providers it supplies,” Balancingact-Africa said.
“Now imagine individual consumers being able to have access to a similar SIP client service. Soon a larger and larger number of people would be able to make IP calls using Wi-Fi and the mobile operators would be left with 'the road.' OK, it won’t be as clear-cut as that but it could certainly provide a seismic shift in traffic. When you turn on your laptop in many African cities, there is a lengthy list of publicly available hot-spots,” said Balancingact-Africa.
Dave Meintjes, MD of Connection Telecom, explains that their PBX technology automatically checks whether a mobile phone with SIP capabilities is on a corporate network when a call to a cellphone is made.
If the call can be routed over the data network using VoIP technology – which is close to free of charge – it will be, completely bypassing the cellular providers’ network and hence generating no revenue for the cellular providers on either end.
With a growing number of mobile handsets shipping with SIP clients, and the ease with which a SIP client can be installed on smartphones, the use of VoIP technology is becoming easier to implement.
It is well known that smartphones with Wi-Fi and VoIP capabilities have been of some concern to the mobile providers which generate most of their revenue from cellular voice calls, but to date the use of VoIP over Wi-Fi in the cellphone arena has not been widespread.
It is however gaining momentum with companies like Connection Telecom and Internet Solutions pushing this technology, and VoIP via Wi-Fi may well become a strong competitive force in future which will mean lower prices to cellular users.
- My BroadBand
Over the last few years the cost of mobile communications has received a fair amount of attention, culminating in mobile call termination rate cuts this year – with further cuts planned for the next three years.
These interconnect rate cuts have resulted in some call rate reductions, but many industry experts have warned that lower interconnect rates will not necessarily translate into lower retail costs.
Competition is the greatest force to drive down prices and the entrance of 8ta into the local market has already resulted in lower call rates.
The biggest competitive forces may not come from the cellular providers themselves, but rather from new Voice-over-IP initiatives which are starting to penetrate the market.
Balancingact-Africa has recently reported that Internet Solutions is already offering its corporate customers a SIP client on their mobile phones that looks for the nearest Wi-Fi hot-spot to route traffic over the Wi-Fi network rather than the cellular network.
"So whether the individual is on the company premises with a hot-spot or near one while he or she is outside the company premises, then their phone will use the Wi-Fi hot-spot rather than the 3G mobile network. Since Internet Solutions controls 80% of the South African hot-spot business, it has made payment alliances with a wide range of the hot-spot providers it supplies,” Balancingact-Africa said.
“Now imagine individual consumers being able to have access to a similar SIP client service. Soon a larger and larger number of people would be able to make IP calls using Wi-Fi and the mobile operators would be left with 'the road.' OK, it won’t be as clear-cut as that but it could certainly provide a seismic shift in traffic. When you turn on your laptop in many African cities, there is a lengthy list of publicly available hot-spots,” said Balancingact-Africa.
Dave Meintjes, MD of Connection Telecom, explains that their PBX technology automatically checks whether a mobile phone with SIP capabilities is on a corporate network when a call to a cellphone is made.
If the call can be routed over the data network using VoIP technology – which is close to free of charge – it will be, completely bypassing the cellular providers’ network and hence generating no revenue for the cellular providers on either end.
With a growing number of mobile handsets shipping with SIP clients, and the ease with which a SIP client can be installed on smartphones, the use of VoIP technology is becoming easier to implement.
It is well known that smartphones with Wi-Fi and VoIP capabilities have been of some concern to the mobile providers which generate most of their revenue from cellular voice calls, but to date the use of VoIP over Wi-Fi in the cellphone arena has not been widespread.
It is however gaining momentum with companies like Connection Telecom and Internet Solutions pushing this technology, and VoIP via Wi-Fi may well become a strong competitive force in future which will mean lower prices to cellular users.
- My BroadBand
Post-recession, telecoms spend is bouyant
Emerging from the recession, industry sentiment is varied: half of businesses perceive the recession on the industry to still be detrimental, while 28% believe it is over. And, while a majority of companies will be spending a considerable portion (30% to 50%) of their budgets next year on telecoms, the overall sentiment towards spending on innovative technologies is not all positive.
These were some of the findings to emerge from a MTN Business survey that was undertaken to ascertain what corporate SA is thinking with regards to IT innovation and maintenance, as well as the apparent business-related benefits. The sample was drawn from key MTN Business clients across business sectors and targeted CEOs, CIOs and IT managers.
Angela Gahagan, executive of MTN Business, comments: “The projected spend for 2011 does show a recovery from the recession. This, coupled with the fact that almost 90% of respondents view telecom investments as essential to business validity, indicates that future investments will not be placed on the ‘backburner’ any further. Where this spend will be allocated, however, is a totally different story."
Despite almost 89% of respondents justifying their telecoms spend on the (the product’s) ability to differentiate their business offerings, only 39% of respondents had a positive sentiment (need to innovate) towards IT/Telecoms spend in 2011; 37% upheld a neutral stance (to maintain and refresh telecom infrastructure where necessary) and 24% stated they need to ‘hold back’ on any investments and continue to save. MTN Business believe this is a conundrum in itself, especially considering that innovative technologies allow the differentiation of business offerings and most respondents (94%) agreed with Gartner’s outlook on the significant link between IT innovation enabling effective CIO decision making (with 61% already seeing and reaping the benefits).
Gahagan adds: “We are certainly not surprised by this conundrum if one considers the impact of the global recession then it’s only natural for recovering businesses to exercise caution on any spend going into 2011. Although less than half of businesses will be actively driving innovation strategies, an equal percentage believe that a year or two of consolidation will not hinder their ability to ‘catch up’ on IT innovation, and both these outlooks are positive for industry recovery and growth.”
Although sentiments are mixed, most respondents agreed on solution focus areas as priorities for their budget spend in 2011. High on the list in terms of telecom spend included voice and data communications (approximately 30%) with networking (28%) and cloud-based services (27%) following respectively.
“These are actually high investment figures for a recovering global economy and MTN Business believe it’s the approach and attitude of itself and other service providers that will make or break the growth and development of telecoms locally in the short term,” adds Gahagan. “We must be ready to assist customers on both innovative and maintenance strategies, and urge our competitors to have a similar outlook, if we are to minimise the effects of the recession and maximise customer innovative priorities in the coming years.
“Gartner rightly indicated that as the recession gives way to growth, there is great opportunity to take advantage of a recovering economy. As a value-added service provider, MTN Business is dedicated to continually building innovative communication solutions and with a strong focus on cloud computing and VoIP, we will continue to make it a priority to understand every customers’ individual requirements and help them take advantage of this growth.”
- IT-Online
These were some of the findings to emerge from a MTN Business survey that was undertaken to ascertain what corporate SA is thinking with regards to IT innovation and maintenance, as well as the apparent business-related benefits. The sample was drawn from key MTN Business clients across business sectors and targeted CEOs, CIOs and IT managers.
Angela Gahagan, executive of MTN Business, comments: “The projected spend for 2011 does show a recovery from the recession. This, coupled with the fact that almost 90% of respondents view telecom investments as essential to business validity, indicates that future investments will not be placed on the ‘backburner’ any further. Where this spend will be allocated, however, is a totally different story."
Despite almost 89% of respondents justifying their telecoms spend on the (the product’s) ability to differentiate their business offerings, only 39% of respondents had a positive sentiment (need to innovate) towards IT/Telecoms spend in 2011; 37% upheld a neutral stance (to maintain and refresh telecom infrastructure where necessary) and 24% stated they need to ‘hold back’ on any investments and continue to save. MTN Business believe this is a conundrum in itself, especially considering that innovative technologies allow the differentiation of business offerings and most respondents (94%) agreed with Gartner’s outlook on the significant link between IT innovation enabling effective CIO decision making (with 61% already seeing and reaping the benefits).
Gahagan adds: “We are certainly not surprised by this conundrum if one considers the impact of the global recession then it’s only natural for recovering businesses to exercise caution on any spend going into 2011. Although less than half of businesses will be actively driving innovation strategies, an equal percentage believe that a year or two of consolidation will not hinder their ability to ‘catch up’ on IT innovation, and both these outlooks are positive for industry recovery and growth.”
Although sentiments are mixed, most respondents agreed on solution focus areas as priorities for their budget spend in 2011. High on the list in terms of telecom spend included voice and data communications (approximately 30%) with networking (28%) and cloud-based services (27%) following respectively.
“These are actually high investment figures for a recovering global economy and MTN Business believe it’s the approach and attitude of itself and other service providers that will make or break the growth and development of telecoms locally in the short term,” adds Gahagan. “We must be ready to assist customers on both innovative and maintenance strategies, and urge our competitors to have a similar outlook, if we are to minimise the effects of the recession and maximise customer innovative priorities in the coming years.
“Gartner rightly indicated that as the recession gives way to growth, there is great opportunity to take advantage of a recovering economy. As a value-added service provider, MTN Business is dedicated to continually building innovative communication solutions and with a strong focus on cloud computing and VoIP, we will continue to make it a priority to understand every customers’ individual requirements and help them take advantage of this growth.”
- IT-Online
Wide spectrum of benefits
Mobile broadband has the ability to contribute 1.8% growth to SA's gross domestic product, or R72 billion, by 2015, and about 28 000 direct jobs, plus related employment outside the industry. This is the view of GSM Association (GSMA) special government adviser Ross Bateson, who attended the AfricaCom conference, in Cape Town, this week.
The Department of Communications (DOC) and communications regulator ICASA must harmonise spectrum allocation in order to create economies of scale and allow for mobile broadband to make a meaningful contribution to economic growth, said Bateson. In particular, Bateson wants to see the release of the 2.6GHz spectrum, currently held by national signal distributor Sentech, but not used by the state-owned entity.
“By giving the full allocation of that spectrum to Sentech for its rollout (which never happened) there is now a situation where this frequency, which has 190MHz of spectrum in it, can now be used for supplying mobile broadband services,” Bateson said. The Sentech allocation was done in a piecemeal manner, he noted, and there is an urgent need to harmonise the allocation by making it a proper standard that will allow for direct economies of scale.
These economies mean cheaper handsets, bringing the country in line with international best practice, and allowing for the full deployment of the next GSM generation, known as LTE, or Long Term Evolution.
Bateson said the GSMA, which is made up of network operators from around the world, has been discussing the issue with the South African government for three years. “Initially, there was some resistance to the idea, because the plan was for Sentech to roll out its services. But that has since failed, and now the government and politicians appear to be warming to the idea of allocating the 2.6GHz frequency,” he said.
In July, ICASA issued an invitation to apply (ITA) for some of this frequency, but that was withdrawn as the full process was not clearly thought through. Bateson said the GSMA hopes the ITA will be re-issued soon.
“The business case for allocating this frequency to business is sound; all that is needed now is the political will.”
- ITWeb
The Department of Communications (DOC) and communications regulator ICASA must harmonise spectrum allocation in order to create economies of scale and allow for mobile broadband to make a meaningful contribution to economic growth, said Bateson. In particular, Bateson wants to see the release of the 2.6GHz spectrum, currently held by national signal distributor Sentech, but not used by the state-owned entity.
“By giving the full allocation of that spectrum to Sentech for its rollout (which never happened) there is now a situation where this frequency, which has 190MHz of spectrum in it, can now be used for supplying mobile broadband services,” Bateson said. The Sentech allocation was done in a piecemeal manner, he noted, and there is an urgent need to harmonise the allocation by making it a proper standard that will allow for direct economies of scale.
These economies mean cheaper handsets, bringing the country in line with international best practice, and allowing for the full deployment of the next GSM generation, known as LTE, or Long Term Evolution.
Bateson said the GSMA, which is made up of network operators from around the world, has been discussing the issue with the South African government for three years. “Initially, there was some resistance to the idea, because the plan was for Sentech to roll out its services. But that has since failed, and now the government and politicians appear to be warming to the idea of allocating the 2.6GHz frequency,” he said.
In July, ICASA issued an invitation to apply (ITA) for some of this frequency, but that was withdrawn as the full process was not clearly thought through. Bateson said the GSMA hopes the ITA will be re-issued soon.
“The business case for allocating this frequency to business is sound; all that is needed now is the political will.”
- ITWeb
The Maturity of 3G Will Bring Mobile VoIP Market Into The Fast Lane
According to media reports, from technology firm Juniper Research’s latest research report showed that with increasing maturity of 3G networks in North America and Europe, the mobile VoIP industry has developed very quickly.
Anthony Cox, senior analyst at Juniper Research says all links of mobile VoIP industry will have a significant improvement by 2012. The market capitalization of Mobile VoIP will more than 3G networks and WiFi networks.
According to the International market research firm ABI Research’s survey data show that the first quarter of 2010, worldwide mobile phone shipments up to 303 million, an increase of more than 19% over the same period last year. 3G mobile phone has sold more than the 2G. In addition, the company also predicted that some of the traditional operators and mobile VoIP service providers will be more in-depth cooperation.
Juniper said, operators “hug” mobile VoIP technology is much better than exclusion. VoIP may lead more new opportunities to mobile operators . The report also shows that the increase of ambulant corporate staff is one of the main driving force of the rapid development of mobile VoIP market. In addition, family market is also a large potential market of mobile VoIP market.
Leading market research firm predicts that by 2013 global mobile VoIP users will be more than 278 million, and 10 years later will be more than half of mobile voice communications network based on end to end mobile phones.
Mobile VoIP Internet telephony can be seen as an inevitable trend of development, but also as a mainstream way in the future 3G wireless mobile communications network environment.
With the mobile operators changing attitude to VoIP, the mobile VoIP market is striding forward development. The emergence of 3G opened the door of mobile Internet, while the mobile Internet let more enterprises have started to pay more attention VoIP.
Recently there is news that a world-renowned domestic telecom equipment manufacturers and operators will be to begin research and development and plans to introduce a built-in VoIP feature 3G data card. This also means that operators fully accepted VoIP.
Anthony Cox, senior analyst at Juniper Research says all links of mobile VoIP industry will have a significant improvement by 2012. The market capitalization of Mobile VoIP will more than 3G networks and WiFi networks.
According to the International market research firm ABI Research’s survey data show that the first quarter of 2010, worldwide mobile phone shipments up to 303 million, an increase of more than 19% over the same period last year. 3G mobile phone has sold more than the 2G. In addition, the company also predicted that some of the traditional operators and mobile VoIP service providers will be more in-depth cooperation.
Juniper said, operators “hug” mobile VoIP technology is much better than exclusion. VoIP may lead more new opportunities to mobile operators . The report also shows that the increase of ambulant corporate staff is one of the main driving force of the rapid development of mobile VoIP market. In addition, family market is also a large potential market of mobile VoIP market.
Leading market research firm predicts that by 2013 global mobile VoIP users will be more than 278 million, and 10 years later will be more than half of mobile voice communications network based on end to end mobile phones.
Mobile VoIP Internet telephony can be seen as an inevitable trend of development, but also as a mainstream way in the future 3G wireless mobile communications network environment.
With the mobile operators changing attitude to VoIP, the mobile VoIP market is striding forward development. The emergence of 3G opened the door of mobile Internet, while the mobile Internet let more enterprises have started to pay more attention VoIP.
Recently there is news that a world-renowned domestic telecom equipment manufacturers and operators will be to begin research and development and plans to introduce a built-in VoIP feature 3G data card. This also means that operators fully accepted VoIP.
Padayachie’s priorities: full transcript of speech
This is the full and unedited transcript of the speech given by newly appointed communications minister Roy Padayachie at his first media briefing as minister in which he set out his priorities for the department and the ministry.
IntroductionMembers of the Media present and Executives from State owned enterprises, friends and colleagues, let me first express a warm welcome to all for having accepted to be present for this Media Conference.
The Minister, Radhakrishna Padayachie (Roy) and Deputy Minister, Obed Bapela have been in office for approximately 11 days. In the course of this period, we have been approached by many journalists who have requested interviews and who have many questions and concerns that they wish to have engaged us on. We must apologise for having turned down these requests in favour of us convening this media briefing which affords us the opportunity face to face to share with you our thoughts on how we wish to implement our work in the DoC. In the first few days we have had to first discuss and receive a handover report from Minister Nyanda and Deputy Minister Pule, the Acting DG, Dr Wesso and the senior leadership of the DoC before we could engage with the media.
Our only regret is that we have not as yet organized an opportunity to meet with the Top Management and the general staff of the DoC, we apologise to the staff and must assure team Doc that this will be done in the coming week.
To the colleagues in the media, I assure you that the Minister and Deputy Minister believe in the principles of freedom of the media. We assure the media that we will always respect the right of the media to engage openly and transparently. It is our view that the media is a critical force in the development of society and has a positive and leading role to play in educating the general public about the importance of ICTs in the advancement of society’s goals and the creation of a better life for our people.
We believe the Ministry / Department of Communications cannot function as an entity in isolation from the people it is there to serve. It is for that reason that we have sought to host this media conference on site here at the DoC. We have invited you here at the DoC to demonstrate to you that the DoC is open for business. We want to do things differently- working faster, harder and smarter. It is our desire that the DoC will understand and implement a culture of public service that is selfless and capable of sacrifice, knowing where people live, what they want and be ever ready to commit to delivery of the best service our people want.
Public servants, in the public service are absolutely important in our plans to deliver a more efficient DoC. Without caring and committed public servants the DoC will not be able to fulfill this mission.
In the past week, I have been enormously encouraged by the overwhelming response we have had by the staff of the DoC to our appointment. There is both a sense of joy and the emergence of a great spirit of unity amongst the staff, from the general staff to the specialist technology experts in the department. We appreciate this and both Minister and Deputy Minister wish to acknowledge the warmth that team DoC have demonstrated and have responded to the call to bring a wave of positive change. The spirit demonstrated by this conduct reminds us how true the slogan is when we say “working together we can do more”.
We are equally encouraged by the enormously positive response that we have received from the general community, the leadership and companies in the ICT sector. Likewise, the colleagues in Parliament, both from the ruling party and members from the opposition have also been very supportive and encouraging.
We take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the contributions made both by General (Ret) Siphiwe Nyanda and Deputy Minister Dina Pule.
Having consulted with the senior leadership in the DoC, under the leadership of the Acting DG, Dr Wesso, we have now consolidated our approach to the kind of interventions that we would like to make in the work of the Ministry in our programme going forward.
The perspective by which we are guided is determined by implementing activities that we will be initiating within 30 days, 3 months and 12 months period. We have identified six critical pillars to our program that will establish a new platform, creating the necessary wave of change that will lead us to actualizing the vision that the DoC has set for itself, that is to be a Global Leader in the Development and use of ICTs for socio economic development and the betterment of People’s lives, the foundations of which can only be achieved through building a people-centered inclusive information society in a sustainable world class ICT environment.
In this context, Cabinet has called upon us to initiate programmes and activities that support the building of a new economic growth path for the country. We seek to guarantee that ICTs will make its substantive contribution as an enabler for economic growth and the creation of new jobs and skills amongst our people as we strengthen the foundation for a knowledge based economy.
1. The first thrust of our intervention is the reconstruction and development of the Department of Communications (DoC)
With regard to Sentech, the Chairperson of the Board resigned at the end of October. I have accepted this resignation with immediate effect. I have therefore appointed an Acting Chairperson of the Board in the person of Ms Leah Khumalo who is a practicing attorney and member of the current Board. We will be working closely with the Board of Sentech to ensure that senior management positions are filled within the next three months. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Mr Quraysh Patel, the outgoing Chairperson, for the service that he has provided to the organization. He has assured me that he will continue to avail himself and give support to the work of Sentech. I also take the opportunity to welcome the new CEO of SENTECH, Dr Setumo Mohapi who joined the organization as of 1 November 2010.
ICASA
For the effective functioning of the ICT sector, the Regulator, ICASA, must be strengthened and, at all times, function with confidence and independence. Efforts to strengthen its capacity will include measures to enhance its technical and financial competency. In this regard, we will actively support and promote its collaboration with the international institutions, such as the International Telecommunications Union During the first half of 2011, an ICASA Amendment Bill will be finalized and submitted to Cabinet for approval for introduction to Parliament.
In addition, the Department has begun with the process of developing a performance management system for ICASA as required by the law. We will therefore, during this month finalize our engagements with ICASA on this matter. We hope that the system will be implemented from the 1st April 2011.
USAASA
Universal service and access to ICTs remains our priority. In this regard, the role and capacity of the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) will be strengthened to ensure that it deals with the universal service and access issues for the entire ICT sector including postal matters. We are, as part of amending the Electronic Communication Act, strengthening the role, powers and functions of USAASA.
We will accelerate efforts to align the programmes of our state-owned entities with that of government, so as to ensure that SOEs remain the strategic implementing agencies of government.
a. The third thrust will involve forging partnerships with the private sector, academia, civil society organizations and labour. These sectors provide enormous potential for the mobilization of intellectual capital and investment partnerships. We will extend an open invitation to enter into a development partnership with the different sectors to reconstruct and develop the ICT sector.
In the coming weeks we will initiate a series of round table discussions with the different sectors. The first of these initiatives have already been done with the broadcasting industry. The next would involve a round table with the CEOs and Chairpersons of the top 30 ICT companies in the country. Our focus is to ascertain the receptivity to the invitation, to discuss an agenda for such an engagement and to construct an appropriate platform for continuous dialogue.
4. Within the next 12 months, the Department will focus on the following strategic priorities
4.1 Building an integrated National Broadband Plan
5.1 e-Skills Institute
We have an amazing opportunity before us. Working together and by joining hands we could become the change we want to see.
- TechCentral
IntroductionMembers of the Media present and Executives from State owned enterprises, friends and colleagues, let me first express a warm welcome to all for having accepted to be present for this Media Conference.
The Minister, Radhakrishna Padayachie (Roy) and Deputy Minister, Obed Bapela have been in office for approximately 11 days. In the course of this period, we have been approached by many journalists who have requested interviews and who have many questions and concerns that they wish to have engaged us on. We must apologise for having turned down these requests in favour of us convening this media briefing which affords us the opportunity face to face to share with you our thoughts on how we wish to implement our work in the DoC. In the first few days we have had to first discuss and receive a handover report from Minister Nyanda and Deputy Minister Pule, the Acting DG, Dr Wesso and the senior leadership of the DoC before we could engage with the media.
Our only regret is that we have not as yet organized an opportunity to meet with the Top Management and the general staff of the DoC, we apologise to the staff and must assure team Doc that this will be done in the coming week.
To the colleagues in the media, I assure you that the Minister and Deputy Minister believe in the principles of freedom of the media. We assure the media that we will always respect the right of the media to engage openly and transparently. It is our view that the media is a critical force in the development of society and has a positive and leading role to play in educating the general public about the importance of ICTs in the advancement of society’s goals and the creation of a better life for our people.
We believe the Ministry / Department of Communications cannot function as an entity in isolation from the people it is there to serve. It is for that reason that we have sought to host this media conference on site here at the DoC. We have invited you here at the DoC to demonstrate to you that the DoC is open for business. We want to do things differently- working faster, harder and smarter. It is our desire that the DoC will understand and implement a culture of public service that is selfless and capable of sacrifice, knowing where people live, what they want and be ever ready to commit to delivery of the best service our people want.
Public servants, in the public service are absolutely important in our plans to deliver a more efficient DoC. Without caring and committed public servants the DoC will not be able to fulfill this mission.
In the past week, I have been enormously encouraged by the overwhelming response we have had by the staff of the DoC to our appointment. There is both a sense of joy and the emergence of a great spirit of unity amongst the staff, from the general staff to the specialist technology experts in the department. We appreciate this and both Minister and Deputy Minister wish to acknowledge the warmth that team DoC have demonstrated and have responded to the call to bring a wave of positive change. The spirit demonstrated by this conduct reminds us how true the slogan is when we say “working together we can do more”.
We are equally encouraged by the enormously positive response that we have received from the general community, the leadership and companies in the ICT sector. Likewise, the colleagues in Parliament, both from the ruling party and members from the opposition have also been very supportive and encouraging.
We take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the contributions made both by General (Ret) Siphiwe Nyanda and Deputy Minister Dina Pule.
Having consulted with the senior leadership in the DoC, under the leadership of the Acting DG, Dr Wesso, we have now consolidated our approach to the kind of interventions that we would like to make in the work of the Ministry in our programme going forward.
The perspective by which we are guided is determined by implementing activities that we will be initiating within 30 days, 3 months and 12 months period. We have identified six critical pillars to our program that will establish a new platform, creating the necessary wave of change that will lead us to actualizing the vision that the DoC has set for itself, that is to be a Global Leader in the Development and use of ICTs for socio economic development and the betterment of People’s lives, the foundations of which can only be achieved through building a people-centered inclusive information society in a sustainable world class ICT environment.
In this context, Cabinet has called upon us to initiate programmes and activities that support the building of a new economic growth path for the country. We seek to guarantee that ICTs will make its substantive contribution as an enabler for economic growth and the creation of new jobs and skills amongst our people as we strengthen the foundation for a knowledge based economy.
1. The first thrust of our intervention is the reconstruction and development of the Department of Communications (DoC)
- Improve our performance through more efficient and effective leadership, internal communication, planning and budgeting, risk management, staff performance management, information management and process redesign.
- Appoint the Director-General and senior management in the next three months so as to stabilize the leadership of the Department.
- Initiate a change management programme, which also deals with transformation matters. A Transformation Committee has already been established.
- Finalise the institutional review process and fill all vacancies within six months.
- Align departmental programmes to MTSF goals and the twelve Cabinet Outcomes
- Our first priority would be to stabilize the leadership within the South African Broadcasting Corporation and to address its programme of work that will resolve its financial liquidity problems and guarantee that the Corporation will deliver programme content in tune with the needs of the people. What we need is a public broadcaster that functions competently. We will therefore work closely with Parliament, the Chairperson of the Board, the Board Members, its Executive Leadership, the Executive Management and general staff of the Corporation with a view to finding solutions to the problems besieging the Corporation. This would include, amongst others, the finalization of the turnaround strategy and the creation of stability within the Board and the Corporation.
- Furthermore, we will, in dealing with the challenges facing the Public Broadcaster, accelerate the finalization of the Public Service Broadcasting Bill. The main purpose of this Bill is to repeal the Broadcasting Act of 1999, so as to align the broadcasting system to the developmental goals of the Republic. This Bill will also deal with corporate governance matters in general. We envisage that this Bill will be submitted to Cabinet during the first quarter of 2011. Due to huge public interests in the contents of the Bill, the Department will, from the 15-17 November 2010, conduct other public hearings to solicit further input on this critical issue.
With regard to Sentech, the Chairperson of the Board resigned at the end of October. I have accepted this resignation with immediate effect. I have therefore appointed an Acting Chairperson of the Board in the person of Ms Leah Khumalo who is a practicing attorney and member of the current Board. We will be working closely with the Board of Sentech to ensure that senior management positions are filled within the next three months. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Mr Quraysh Patel, the outgoing Chairperson, for the service that he has provided to the organization. He has assured me that he will continue to avail himself and give support to the work of Sentech. I also take the opportunity to welcome the new CEO of SENTECH, Dr Setumo Mohapi who joined the organization as of 1 November 2010.
ICASA
For the effective functioning of the ICT sector, the Regulator, ICASA, must be strengthened and, at all times, function with confidence and independence. Efforts to strengthen its capacity will include measures to enhance its technical and financial competency. In this regard, we will actively support and promote its collaboration with the international institutions, such as the International Telecommunications Union During the first half of 2011, an ICASA Amendment Bill will be finalized and submitted to Cabinet for approval for introduction to Parliament.
In addition, the Department has begun with the process of developing a performance management system for ICASA as required by the law. We will therefore, during this month finalize our engagements with ICASA on this matter. We hope that the system will be implemented from the 1st April 2011.
USAASA
Universal service and access to ICTs remains our priority. In this regard, the role and capacity of the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) will be strengthened to ensure that it deals with the universal service and access issues for the entire ICT sector including postal matters. We are, as part of amending the Electronic Communication Act, strengthening the role, powers and functions of USAASA.
We will accelerate efforts to align the programmes of our state-owned entities with that of government, so as to ensure that SOEs remain the strategic implementing agencies of government.
a. The third thrust will involve forging partnerships with the private sector, academia, civil society organizations and labour. These sectors provide enormous potential for the mobilization of intellectual capital and investment partnerships. We will extend an open invitation to enter into a development partnership with the different sectors to reconstruct and develop the ICT sector.
In the coming weeks we will initiate a series of round table discussions with the different sectors. The first of these initiatives have already been done with the broadcasting industry. The next would involve a round table with the CEOs and Chairpersons of the top 30 ICT companies in the country. Our focus is to ascertain the receptivity to the invitation, to discuss an agenda for such an engagement and to construct an appropriate platform for continuous dialogue.
4. Within the next 12 months, the Department will focus on the following strategic priorities
4.1 Building an integrated National Broadband Plan
- Building an efficient, competitive and responsive ICT infrastructure network is critical to propel South Africa into a knowledge-based economy. This would require that government continue to implement a programme to ensure the liberalization of the ICT sector in order to promote competition, In this regard, we continue to implement interventions aimed at promoting appropriate cost structures in the ICT sector. We also note the significant progress made in addressing the mobile termination rates. The Unbundling of the local loop remains a critical and important intervention. In this regard we will work closely with ICASA to ensure that the local loop is unbundled by November 2011.
- The digital technologies such as broadband are increasingly becoming an instrument to achieve the national development goals. They offer opportunities to create a variety of new applications. Broadband, and its faster “always-on” connections, is serving to accelerate the process of integration of Internet technologies into everyday life.
- The creation of new applications not only needs large pipes and suitable technological infrastructure, but also an appropriate strategy for service evolution, and an adequate environment for the creation of new content. With digital technologies, the variety and quality of specialized applications — for instance online entertainment or educational material — are set to increase dramatically. The future should be about innovation with a view to take advantage of the new technologies.
- The creation of new applications defines and challenges how content should be regulated. Hence the policy gears itself to ensure that there is an appropriate regulatory environment to regulate digital content. The development of new applications should be promoted. Such efforts will ensure that the development of a competitive ICT industry in general is not compromised.
- Improving and increasing access to government services offered online remains a strategic objective of Government. To realize this objective, there is a need to develop and promote open, simple and secure online e-applications and content bringing new experiences to the citizenry in general.
- Develop South Africa’s ICT infrastructure, skills and regulatory regime so that all South Africans are able to take full advantage of economic, educational and social opportunities offered by the emerging Information Society and Knowled Based Economy.
- Develop programmes and projects to promote the uptake and usage of ICTs on a national scale and contribute to bridging the digital divide.
- Operationalise the e-Skills Institute to lead and be the catalyst to e-skilling the nation for equitable prosperity and global competitiveness that is so vital to our future growth.
- The Information Society and Development Multi-stakeholder Forum which was established this year as a platform of engagement for reviewing the implementation of the WSIS Outcomes as well as the ISAD Plan implementation by government, business and the civil society. The Forum is a Partnership for Development Initiative which discusses key developmental initiatives and programmes for building a people-centred, inclusive information society and knowledge based economy. Several partnerships with the private sector, academia, and civil society have been initiated.
- Establish an internationally appointed Advisory Panel for ICT development in South Africa. This could be a conduit to receive best global experience in our policy practice and implementation for the ICT Sector. Our focus will be on identifying the niche areas in the ICT value chain for South African companies and to facilitate the emergence of global brands for the South African ICT Sector.
- Ensure that regulations in the telecommunications sector are in the interests of South African consumers, businesses and more broadly in the economy
- We therefore recognize the need to develop an appropriate policy and regulatory environment in order to enhance the role of ICTs in advancing the achievement of the national developmental goals. In this regard, a national colloquium on the development of the National ICT Policy Framework will be convened during the first quarter of 2011. The Policy Framework will chart a long-term vision for the ICT sector and its contribution to the economy. The colloquium will be a high level dialogue initiative for key stakeholders to identify and harmonize the institutional and sectoral issues with respect to the development and application of ICTs in South Africa, as well as the key policy issues that need to be addressed.
- We will also continue with efforts to clean the Electronic Communications Act so as to clarify and strengthen the role, powers and functions of the Minister and of ICASA. In this regard, we will, in the next few days, publish the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill for public comments.
- Work with ICASA and industry to maximize the efficient management and utilization of national radio frequency spectrum assets to maximize the benefits to South African consumers and industry.
- The deployment of ICT infrastructure is dependent on how effective and efficient the country is in regard to the management of the radio frequency spectrum – a natural scarce resource. As technology evolves, the country should adopt technologies that are efficient in the usage of the spectrum. In this connection, measures to ensure efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum to meet the developmental objectives shall be accelerated.
- Publication of draft policy directions for public comment on spectrum for broadband applications, radio spectrum usage and spectrum pricing are being considered.
- Create awareness and provide education about cyber-safety and e-security issues in the community.
- Undertake research and consultation to inform policy and deliver programs that better protect South African internet users.
- In an increasingly knowledge-driven and networked world we are prone to external interceptions that are in breach of lawful online conduct, all of which could lead to an erosion of trust and confidence, it is important that measures are undertaken towards creating an awareness of what is desirable and building capacities for the same and by the establishment of an enforcement and compliance regime. An environment of trust and confidence in ICT, particularly the Internet, is an essential pre-requisite for ICT uptake levels to rise.
- A National Cybersecurity Policy has been formulated which is a synthesis of reactive and proactive measures towards building information secure society.
- Whist this policy acknowledges the initiatives taken to develop and implement e-commerce, in going forward, such a policy must be strengthened with a well-established information security system so as to create confidence in the use of the system.
- Digital migration remains a key project of the Department. With regard to the implementation of the digital migration policy in South Africa, our programme will focus on finalizing the set-top box manufacturing strategy, the scheme for ownership support for poor TV owning households and the local and digital content development strategy. We envisage that this will be submitted to Cabinet for approval during the first quarter of 2011.
- Within a month from now we will also pronounce on the country’s position in relation to the digital terrestrial television standard. The finalization of this matter will assist in accelerating the implementation of broadcasting digital migration in South Africa.
- Take the necessary measures to reduce the effects of climate change by developing and using more energy-efficient ICT devices, applications and networks and through the application of ICTs in other fields
- Promote recycling and the re-use of ICT equipment.
5.1 e-Skills Institute
- Technology aware human capital is regarded as the driving force behind technology innovations anywhere in the world. The ICT industry is knowledge intensive and driven essentially by the need for low and high-end skills.
- Therefore the development of an ICT skilled labour force in terms of quantity and quality is crucial. If the country is to increase both the quantity and quality of an ICT skilled labour force, we need to initiate, review and strengthen the current interventions for immediate results through making available outputs that are compatible with industry requirements.
- A process is under way to have the e-SI established as a legal entity and as an accredited educational institution of higher learning.
- High Profile National Seminar/Lecture Series at Regional Knowledge Production Hubs and the e-SI nationally will commence during the 2011 academic year.
- The following three to five months will see the implementation of three e-SI Regional Knowledge Production Hubs; the ICT knowledge and infrastructure design to support virtual offerings; Curriculum development; ie. e-skills for digital inclusion; e-skills for rural development; e-skills for e-democracy; e-skills for business; e-skills for teaching and learning.
- The deployment of ICT infrastructure should bring with it significant benefits to the consumers in terms of enabling the provision of services by multiple operators possible. Less duplication of ICT infrastructure will ensure increased competition in the provision of affordable services to the majority of the population, thus encouraging competition in the sector.
- Due to the fact that ICT infrastructure is biased towards urban and affluent areas in South Africa, there is a need to continue with universal access and service programme. Currently more electronic communications network service licensees have been licensed. It is for this reason that the approach to universal access and service should be reviewed to reflect the current realities.
- The Department of Communications recognizes that the big challenges facing Government, particularly as it relates to the ICT sector’s role in rural areas, are the accessibility of appropriate ICT infrastructure to the majority of people as well as the affordability of ICT services including broadband and internet connection.
- The Department will finalize the ICT Rural Development Strategy by March next year. The implementation of the strategies will see the further roll-out of an additional 90 Digital Hubs throughout the country in under-served areas, support the establishment of 23 new e-Cooperatives with a focus on unemployed youth graduates recruited from rural areas and the finalisation of an e-Commerce portal for Small scale farmers to ensure online trading of agricultural products during the financial year 2011/2012. In addition, 19 low power transmitters will be built to afford about 5 million inhabitants access to television services. Rural technologies such as wireless technology infrastructure is considered as a means of bridging the rural-urban divide in South Africa.
- The Department will continue with the programme to corporatise the Postbank. In this regard, we will, within a month, develop a road map towards the implementation of the Postbank Bill. We envisage that the Bill will be signed into law. We will fulfill the mandate of Government in bringing services to the people.
- The e-Health Connectivity Plan supports the establishment of national health network infrastructure (VPN) in order for the improvement of health care services as well as to improve the health status of South Africans. The Plan is currently being discussed with stakeholders in the health sector and human development cluster of government. In support of the integrated infrastructure planning, this initiative is aligned with other connectivity initiatives especially in relation to education. The Plan will be finalized for submission to Cabinet by March 2011.
- The development of local content has the potential to contribute to a new industry focus. In this regard we will accelerate the finalization of the Local and Digital Content Strategy for South Africa.
- South Africa has been blessed to be awarded a seat on the ITU Council. We look forward to ensuring that South Africa remains committed to the world and will build a strong partnerships for policy development with UNDP, UPU, UNESCO, WHO and OECD.
We have an amazing opportunity before us. Working together and by joining hands we could become the change we want to see.
- TechCentral
Padayachie wants local loop unbundled
Newly appointed communications minister Roy Padayachie wants to ensure the “local loop”, the so-called “last mile” of copper cables that connect consumers to Telkom’s network, is unbundled within 12 months.
Padayachie says unbundling the local loop is a “critical and important intervention”. “In this regard, we will work closely with Icasa [the Independent Communications Authority of SA] to ensure that the local loop is unbundled by November 2011,” he says. Padayachie was speaking at his first media conference since being appointed last week, replacing Siphiwe Nyanda, who was sacked by President Jacob Zuma at the end of last month.
“Digital technologies such as broadband are increasingly becoming an instrument to achieve national development goals,” Padayachie says. He says the department will work on an integrated national broadband plan to ensure the country has an “efficient, competitive and responsive ICT infrastructure”, which he says is “critical to propel SA into a knowledge-based economy”.
“This would require that government continue to implement a programme to ensure the liberalisation of the ICT sector in order to promote competition.”
— Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
Padayachie says unbundling the local loop is a “critical and important intervention”. “In this regard, we will work closely with Icasa [the Independent Communications Authority of SA] to ensure that the local loop is unbundled by November 2011,” he says. Padayachie was speaking at his first media conference since being appointed last week, replacing Siphiwe Nyanda, who was sacked by President Jacob Zuma at the end of last month.
“Digital technologies such as broadband are increasingly becoming an instrument to achieve national development goals,” Padayachie says. He says the department will work on an integrated national broadband plan to ensure the country has an “efficient, competitive and responsive ICT infrastructure”, which he says is “critical to propel SA into a knowledge-based economy”.
“This would require that government continue to implement a programme to ensure the liberalisation of the ICT sector in order to promote competition.”
— Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
SA's changing telecoms landscape
| SA's changing telecoms landscape By Brian Neilson for ITWeb Market Monitor The South African telecommunications regulatory environment can be defined as being in the ‘second wave of sector reform’, a stage that is normally characterised by a more vigorous move towards greater sector liberalisation. | ||
| Over the past few years there have been significant movements with regard to the implementation of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA). Licenses for incumbent operators were converted to ECNS and I-ECNS, and on 16 January 2009 through Government Gazette 31803, the regulator announced the completion of the entire licence conversion process. Many of the outstanding liberalisation objectives, which are embodied in the ECA, are being addressed, and during 2008 ICASA issued no less than 10 draft regulations for discussion. 2009 was no less significant regarding implementation of some of the regulations, and 2010 has seen a plethora of regulations issued for comment and implementation. A significant development in the 2009 market was the High Court's ruling that service providers, formerly classified as ‘value-added network services’ (VANS), can self-provide facilities; this after Altech had taken ICASA and the Department of Communications to court on the issue as the 200 or so VANS licences were being converted by ICASA into I-ECNS licences. Even though this is a significant victory towards further market liberalisation, there remain doubts on both the financial ability and the will of most of these companies to roll out a significant network infrastructure of their own. What remains critical is the finalisation of wholesale pricing and essential facilities regulations so as to enable those that remain primarily ECS players to access the facilities of the incumbents at more favourable rates than those currently experienced in the market. Even when they do achieve the benefits of wholesale pricing, based on global experience, facilities-based competition is regarded as being a far more effective driver of achieving higher levels of competition in the market, with corresponding levels of cost reduction. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) can also benefit from services-based competition enablers, although the jury remains out on whether this will in fact materialise with any significant impact in SA. The level of competition is expanding on a number of levels. Broadband services proliferated with corresponding price decreases, with the trend set to continue in 2010. Cell C has also announced its W-CDMA/HSPA based services with an innovative and competitive pricing structure. Telkom unveiled its own mobile operation under the name 8ta. Some of the new broadband services and related price and performance improvements have been facilitated, at least in part, by the advent of SEACOM in 2009, and related competitive moves by Telkom on SAT-3/SAFE. Further competition on international submarine cables is an ongoing trend; including the landing of Eassy in 2010, of national long distance fibre backbones and of metro networks, with Neotel already playing a key role at all three of these levels. Metro fibre competition is also being stimulated by the appearance of private sector players like Dark Fibre Africa and Metrofibre Networx, which are seeking to achieve critical mass in signing up multiple licensed service providers on routes in which they are deploying ducting. In the market forecast scenario presented below, the total telecommunications market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% over the forecast period, with similar growth in the fixed and mobile segments. Growth in both categories is being sustained by data services, as voice markets are rapidly maturing. | ||
The South African telecoms market is becoming highly competitive on all levels, and even the major mobile operators are facing maturing markets for their staple voice services, and are having to consider ways of managing their costs rather than simply pursuing further growth – although the mobile data services market remains a source of substantial growth, along with its own price-based competition.
The race remains on to sign up customers for data services, while taking care to manage profitability in this market, including reviewing channel strategies and pruning back unprofitable channels. Mobile operators are also targeting lower spending subscribers for the next wave of growth in mobile data usage.
Competition in voice services is also on the increase with all the major mobile operators having released packages and tariffs that offer considerable discounts across all networks.
It remains to be seen how quickly further decreases in termination rates will flow through to retail tariffs, as operators’ margins are further impacted as a result.
The voice market remains extremely fluid, posing a significant challenge to all the players in the market – whether PSTN, mobile operator or alternative voice service provider – in that it increasingly difficult to plan for the future.
Smaller ‘alternative voice players’ have to adjust their business models, partnering relationships and product suites on almost a month-to-month basis, in an effort to remain relevant and profitable.
This instability makes it very difficult for investors to make sound decisions, affecting company valuations and making new investments unattractive due to the uncertainty.
While all players will play the arbitrage game as long as necessary, they are all secretly hoping for the situation to stabilise, so that they can plan their businesses and return to a semblance of normality.
In light of the generally heightened levels of competition at all levels, further market consolidation is likely, as more telecoms businesses operate unprofitably or lack a clear strategic future.
Market leaders’ desire to consolidate market share is a key driver for this, as evidenced by MTN’s previous acquisition of Verizon Business, and strong indications of likely future acquisitions among other players.
There is also a strong likelihood of heightened participation in the local market by international entrants, for example NTT’s pending deal with Dimension Data group (including Internet Solutions)
- ITWeb Market Monitor
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
What are the advantages of using Mobile Application software
Smart phones are evolving with new and capable technologies being integrated with them. Internet telephony or Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is a cutting-edge technology and its use in smart mobile phones has helped people to gain a number of advantages. A VoIP mobile application is installed in a mobile phone to facilitate user-to-user calling through internet protocol. So, in what ways is mobile VoIP concept beneficial for the users? Learn about its advantages from the following discussion.
Considerable Cost Saving
People using mobile phone often complain of huge bills that they need to pay. Mobile VoIP software can help you lower down the monthly mobile bills by a considerable amount. For VoIP calling through mobile phones, you simply need to invest in a good internet connection. Mobile VoIP calling routes the calls through internet, thereby saving the money spent on traditional mobile calling.
Calling while Traveling
Using VoIP on mobile phones helps people to call even when they are roaming around the world. Traditional mobile calling adds a huge amount to mobile phone bills when calls are made while on roaming. However, you can call using VoIP software installed in your mobile phones to save money while traveling.
Business Telephony
Mobile VoIP Software finds a beneficial application in business calling. Most of the organizations provide cell phones to their employees to establish effective communication. However, this adds a significantly high cost to the business expenses of these organizations. Using VoIP technology on mobile phones helps the businesses to amazingly reduce this cost.
Going further, VoIP mobile technology allows the employees to use a number of other features, like participation in teleconference from any part of the world. Call switching and call transfer are other useful facilities established through VoIP mobile application in the mobile phones. The recently launched smart phones are even using the application for instant messaging and setting up multiple chat rooms.
Support for Multiple Platforms
The developers of mobile VoIP applications make the VoIP technology compatible with different platforms. For example, some VoIP software tools for mobile phones support popular operating systems like Windows Mobile and Symbian. Wireless technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi can be used to provide internet connectivity for VoIP calling. So, it is a wonderful amalgamation of technologies to make telecommunication easier and convenient.
Amazing Call Quality Call quality and voice clarity offered by the VoIP mobile applications are appreciably higher than traditional calling. You can call using mobile phone VoIP even if there is weak or no network signal available.
So, it is a wonderful amalgamation of technologies to make telecommunication easier and convenient. TelFree Mobile Dialer is a leading name that provides mobile VoIP software for numerous mobile phone models. The company also offers call through software along with VoIP mobile applications. Some PBX vendors such as Aastra, Avaya and Mitel to name but a few have also developed similar software for various mobile phone models.
Considerable Cost Saving
People using mobile phone often complain of huge bills that they need to pay. Mobile VoIP software can help you lower down the monthly mobile bills by a considerable amount. For VoIP calling through mobile phones, you simply need to invest in a good internet connection. Mobile VoIP calling routes the calls through internet, thereby saving the money spent on traditional mobile calling.
Calling while Traveling
Using VoIP on mobile phones helps people to call even when they are roaming around the world. Traditional mobile calling adds a huge amount to mobile phone bills when calls are made while on roaming. However, you can call using VoIP software installed in your mobile phones to save money while traveling.
Business Telephony
Mobile VoIP Software finds a beneficial application in business calling. Most of the organizations provide cell phones to their employees to establish effective communication. However, this adds a significantly high cost to the business expenses of these organizations. Using VoIP technology on mobile phones helps the businesses to amazingly reduce this cost.
Going further, VoIP mobile technology allows the employees to use a number of other features, like participation in teleconference from any part of the world. Call switching and call transfer are other useful facilities established through VoIP mobile application in the mobile phones. The recently launched smart phones are even using the application for instant messaging and setting up multiple chat rooms.
Support for Multiple Platforms
The developers of mobile VoIP applications make the VoIP technology compatible with different platforms. For example, some VoIP software tools for mobile phones support popular operating systems like Windows Mobile and Symbian. Wireless technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi can be used to provide internet connectivity for VoIP calling. So, it is a wonderful amalgamation of technologies to make telecommunication easier and convenient.
Amazing Call Quality Call quality and voice clarity offered by the VoIP mobile applications are appreciably higher than traditional calling. You can call using mobile phone VoIP even if there is weak or no network signal available.
So, it is a wonderful amalgamation of technologies to make telecommunication easier and convenient. TelFree Mobile Dialer is a leading name that provides mobile VoIP software for numerous mobile phone models. The company also offers call through software along with VoIP mobile applications. Some PBX vendors such as Aastra, Avaya and Mitel to name but a few have also developed similar software for various mobile phone models.
Why the cheapest option is not always the best option
People love to find a bargain, but for the most part, people who shop on price alone are hurting themselves. If you know exactly what you are looking for in a product and get the lowest price on a model XYZ123 dishwasher, that is one thing, but getting the lowest price on a generic service more often than not does not represent your best value. This is particularly true when someone gets the cheapest VOIP service available anywhere, because they will be spending much of their own time on the phone with the VOIP service provider trying to get it to work as advertised.
Now if such people put zero value on their own time, then perhaps it may be a good deal to get the cheapest VOIP service possible, but most people do not consider their own time as being of no value whatsoever.
I recommend looking for the best value, which is often different from the lowest price. You need to determine what features you are looking for, outline and detail your calling requirements, and find out exactly what you want your VOIP service to do. Then you are in a position to make intelligent and informed decisions about who has the lowest price compared with the feature set being offered. Getting VoIP based on price alone however, is rarely a good decision and will present more problems than it solves.
One particular aspect of VoIP, whether it is the cheapest VoIP or the most expensive VoIP service, that most people do not realize is that the VoIP service itself is not responsible for nor has any control over the most critical aspect of a successful VoIP implementation, and that is the reliability and stability of your high-speed Internet connection.
The VOIP carrier you have chosen has zero control over that, and if your high-speed Internet connection, whether it is cable or DSL, is not rock solid, there is not a VoIP service anywhere on the planet that can provide a good solution. If your high-speed Internet connection has hiccups, slowdowns, and outages, you should consider a different high-speed Internet provider before you even think about a VoIP installation.
If you do have a rock solid high-speed Internet connection, then you can start comparing VoIP features and benefits to determine who provides the best bang for the buck.
Determine your needs and then find the VoIP service that meets those needs at the best price. But be aware that the cheapest VoIP service probably does not represent your most cost effective and best value. Paying a big price does not guarantee good service.
Now if such people put zero value on their own time, then perhaps it may be a good deal to get the cheapest VOIP service possible, but most people do not consider their own time as being of no value whatsoever.
I recommend looking for the best value, which is often different from the lowest price. You need to determine what features you are looking for, outline and detail your calling requirements, and find out exactly what you want your VOIP service to do. Then you are in a position to make intelligent and informed decisions about who has the lowest price compared with the feature set being offered. Getting VoIP based on price alone however, is rarely a good decision and will present more problems than it solves.
One particular aspect of VoIP, whether it is the cheapest VoIP or the most expensive VoIP service, that most people do not realize is that the VoIP service itself is not responsible for nor has any control over the most critical aspect of a successful VoIP implementation, and that is the reliability and stability of your high-speed Internet connection.
The VOIP carrier you have chosen has zero control over that, and if your high-speed Internet connection, whether it is cable or DSL, is not rock solid, there is not a VoIP service anywhere on the planet that can provide a good solution. If your high-speed Internet connection has hiccups, slowdowns, and outages, you should consider a different high-speed Internet provider before you even think about a VoIP installation.
If you do have a rock solid high-speed Internet connection, then you can start comparing VoIP features and benefits to determine who provides the best bang for the buck.
Determine your needs and then find the VoIP service that meets those needs at the best price. But be aware that the cheapest VoIP service probably does not represent your most cost effective and best value. Paying a big price does not guarantee good service.
To VoIP, Or Not to VoIP: That is the Question
VoIP has become a popular network application in the last few years in the internet and communication world. While it brings major benefits for both consumers and businesses that use it, the decision of whether VoIP is right for their needs is a difficult one. Many businesses may not know the benefits of VoIP either.
Consumers and businesses are aware that implementing a VoIP network can save them money. For those that make a lot of long distance calls, the savings increase substantially. For those that wonder how the savings occur, you first have to understand how VoIP works. VoIP calls are transmitted along your broadband internet connection, bypassing your regular telephone service provider. The cost-savings are from not being charged the numerous taxes and other charges that your regular phone line incurs.
Saving money from long distance calls can result in a massive savings for businesses. With the growing number of VoIP service providers entering the market each year, the competition and subsequent pricing battle between the providers, now is a good time for many businesses looking to convert to VoIP.
With the deployment of a VoIP network into your business, you will receive a converter. This converter is great in itself because it's assigned with your own individual number. If you need to travel, you just take the converter with you and plug it into any broadband connection. This allows you to make and receive calls using the same number. Make sure to have a good bandwidth connection, such as with broadband or DSL, to ensure your VoIP will work successfully. Other things you will need include a computer microphone or regular phone, a VoIP route adaptor for connecting to the internet and of course, a VoIP service provider.
Features that come with a VoIP network include call waiting, caller ID, speed dialing, call forwarding, 3-way calling, free voicemail, plus much more.
In summary, there are many benefits for your business to convert to a VoIP network. While the decision of whether VoIP is right for your business's needs is a difficult one, hopefully this article has helped you make a better decision. What business doesn't want to stay ahead of their competition AND save money? This decision is yours! Just be sure to compare the services and costs of several carriers first, then choose the one that best suits your business's needs. Do your homework first!
Consumers and businesses are aware that implementing a VoIP network can save them money. For those that make a lot of long distance calls, the savings increase substantially. For those that wonder how the savings occur, you first have to understand how VoIP works. VoIP calls are transmitted along your broadband internet connection, bypassing your regular telephone service provider. The cost-savings are from not being charged the numerous taxes and other charges that your regular phone line incurs.
Saving money from long distance calls can result in a massive savings for businesses. With the growing number of VoIP service providers entering the market each year, the competition and subsequent pricing battle between the providers, now is a good time for many businesses looking to convert to VoIP.
With the deployment of a VoIP network into your business, you will receive a converter. This converter is great in itself because it's assigned with your own individual number. If you need to travel, you just take the converter with you and plug it into any broadband connection. This allows you to make and receive calls using the same number. Make sure to have a good bandwidth connection, such as with broadband or DSL, to ensure your VoIP will work successfully. Other things you will need include a computer microphone or regular phone, a VoIP route adaptor for connecting to the internet and of course, a VoIP service provider.
Features that come with a VoIP network include call waiting, caller ID, speed dialing, call forwarding, 3-way calling, free voicemail, plus much more.
In summary, there are many benefits for your business to convert to a VoIP network. While the decision of whether VoIP is right for your business's needs is a difficult one, hopefully this article has helped you make a better decision. What business doesn't want to stay ahead of their competition AND save money? This decision is yours! Just be sure to compare the services and costs of several carriers first, then choose the one that best suits your business's needs. Do your homework first!
What is SIP Trunking and Can it Save My Business Money?
Q: We recently purchased an IP PBX, but aren’t using VoIP to send and receive calls. I keep hearing about ‘SIP Trunking’ everywhere I turn. What is ‘SIP Trunking’ and can it help my business save money on calls?
A: If you are the proud owner of a SIP compatible IP PBX and are currently using a PSTN (Telkom) connection, such as a PRI or a handful of lines to make and receive phone calls, it might be time to give SIP trunking a look. Many IP PBX systems, such as Asterisk, Cisco, Mitel, and a few others allow you to leverage SIP trunking, in addition to maintain PSTN connectivity. By editing the dial plan in your IP PBX, you can dictate which types of calls you want to connect to the PSTN, and which calls you want to hand off to your SIP trunking provider for termination. Cost savings is a primary reason why SIP trunking is becoming increasingly popular with businesses of all shapes and sizes.
What is a SIP Trunk?
For enterprises wanting to make full use of their installed IP-PBXs and not only communicate over IP within the enterprise, but also outside the enterprise a SIP trunk provided by an Internet Telephony Service Provider to connect to the traditional PSTN network is the solution. Unlike in traditional telephony, where bundles of physical wires were once delivered from the service provider to a business, a SIP trunk allows a company to replace these traditional fixed PSTN lines with PSTN connectivity via a SIP trunking service provider on the Internet.
Why would I want SIP Trunking?
There are a number of reasonable answers to that question, but the primary advantage for many users is cost savings. For example, as a business owner, I could leverage SIP trunking to bypass expensive Long Distance or International toll charges levied by my PSTN provider. The rates for domestic and international LD are typically a fraction of what can be charged by traditional Telco operators. Understanding that a SIP trunk is dependent upon the integrity of your data (internet) connection, it is often prudent to use SIP trunks to complement traditional PSTN circuits. This gives you the cost savings you are looking for, in addition to the fail-over and redundancy of having two call carriers available.
How do I setup SIP Trunking on my IP PBX?
Actual trunk configuration will vary depending upon the make and model of IP PBX you are using. For the purposes of this article I will not get into specifics on configuring SIP trunks. If you are interested in getting SIP trunking in place feel free to shoot me an email at thebigboss@whichvoip.co.za and I will be happy to share some instruction for you specific PBX platform. In a nutshell, you need to configure SIP trunking using account specific information obtained when you sign up for service with an ITSP such as ECN Telecom, Vox Telecom, TelFree, etc.
Next, modify the dialplan in your PBX to set up specific call rules which dictate which trunks (SIP or PSTN) calls are placed on when a user picks up a phone in your office and dials an outbound call. A very simple dialplan setup would use PSTN trunks for local calls, and SIP trunks for LD or International calls. Many businesses with multiple domestic and international locations use SIP trunking for intra-office calling as well, often leveraging their existing data infrastructure.
A: If you are the proud owner of a SIP compatible IP PBX and are currently using a PSTN (Telkom) connection, such as a PRI or a handful of lines to make and receive phone calls, it might be time to give SIP trunking a look. Many IP PBX systems, such as Asterisk, Cisco, Mitel, and a few others allow you to leverage SIP trunking, in addition to maintain PSTN connectivity. By editing the dial plan in your IP PBX, you can dictate which types of calls you want to connect to the PSTN, and which calls you want to hand off to your SIP trunking provider for termination. Cost savings is a primary reason why SIP trunking is becoming increasingly popular with businesses of all shapes and sizes.
What is a SIP Trunk?
For enterprises wanting to make full use of their installed IP-PBXs and not only communicate over IP within the enterprise, but also outside the enterprise a SIP trunk provided by an Internet Telephony Service Provider to connect to the traditional PSTN network is the solution. Unlike in traditional telephony, where bundles of physical wires were once delivered from the service provider to a business, a SIP trunk allows a company to replace these traditional fixed PSTN lines with PSTN connectivity via a SIP trunking service provider on the Internet.
Why would I want SIP Trunking?
There are a number of reasonable answers to that question, but the primary advantage for many users is cost savings. For example, as a business owner, I could leverage SIP trunking to bypass expensive Long Distance or International toll charges levied by my PSTN provider. The rates for domestic and international LD are typically a fraction of what can be charged by traditional Telco operators. Understanding that a SIP trunk is dependent upon the integrity of your data (internet) connection, it is often prudent to use SIP trunks to complement traditional PSTN circuits. This gives you the cost savings you are looking for, in addition to the fail-over and redundancy of having two call carriers available.
How do I setup SIP Trunking on my IP PBX?
Actual trunk configuration will vary depending upon the make and model of IP PBX you are using. For the purposes of this article I will not get into specifics on configuring SIP trunks. If you are interested in getting SIP trunking in place feel free to shoot me an email at thebigboss@whichvoip.co.za and I will be happy to share some instruction for you specific PBX platform. In a nutshell, you need to configure SIP trunking using account specific information obtained when you sign up for service with an ITSP such as ECN Telecom, Vox Telecom, TelFree, etc.
Next, modify the dialplan in your PBX to set up specific call rules which dictate which trunks (SIP or PSTN) calls are placed on when a user picks up a phone in your office and dials an outbound call. A very simple dialplan setup would use PSTN trunks for local calls, and SIP trunks for LD or International calls. Many businesses with multiple domestic and international locations use SIP trunking for intra-office calling as well, often leveraging their existing data infrastructure.
Monday, November 1, 2010
The most valuable SIM card ever
Newcomer 8ta's introductory offer is for life, which means I can arbitrage it forever.
Telkom mobile unit 8ta has introduced what could be the most valuable SIM card on the market. In fact, it is probably so valuable they could become cherished possessions to be handed from one generation to another.
8ta's launch offering of one free minute of call time for every three minutes of calls received is intriguing as it is. It is simply using the mobile termination rate, the charge networks levy on each other to carry calls from one network to another, to subsidise the roll out.
But, what really adds some zoom to this offer is that it is for life!
Come on, when was the last time, if ever, you have heard of an offer for life on anything? Especially one from a telecommunications company, that has earned something of a reputation for not being willing to give its clients ice in winter.
According to its terms and conditions, should I get an 8ta card now, I will be able to benefit from accumulating up to R500 worth of minutes per month from encouraging people to phone me. Fantastic!
Bundle of joy
The SMS bundle that comes with this offer is obviously designed to encourage the incoming calls. Many prepaid (pay-as-you-go) subscribers are sensitive to the amount of airtime they have available, so they send SMSes (such as the “Please call me”) to people they want to talk to and hope the other party makes the call. The practice is so widespread and accepted now that it makes commercial sense.
If I send out five paid SMSes, at 50c each, I get 50 free ones to send that day – that's a lot of “Please call me” messages and someone is sure to call. I can even resell the free ones at less than half price and still make a small profit.
Lifetime freebie
Come on, when was the last time, if ever, you have heard of an offer for life on anything?
But it is not just that, it is the arbitrage opportunity that this launch offering opens up. South Africans have for years being playing one network operator against the other in the prepaid market.
An informal, yet sophisticated, airtime trading market has been in existence for ages. People take note of the various special offers from network operators and then trade the airtime minutes among each other in order to get the best deals and someone will always end up with cash in their pockets. It is not illegal, it is just tax-free business.
I have seen such operations take place in various parts of the country. Often the participants seem to be taller than me, stronger than me and speak with some kind of accent. The conversations are more like those that took place on the old Johannesburg Stock Exchange trading floor (but politer) or at a racecourse.
However, at the end of each trading session, someone got to make a cheap call and someone got to put cash in the pocket.
Heirloom SIM
But the flaw has been to continually buy and sell the various cards and keep a close eye on the monthly offerings. Now, with the lifetime offer from 8ta, that is not as difficult as it was, as it has created a permanent arbitrage opportunity.
Now I can use my Vodacom card for outgoing cellular to cellular calls, encourage people to phone me on my 8ta card and resell that accumulated airtime and spare SMS for a small profit that should see me through beer money at least. Small profit is the way of the informal sector.
If I have more than one 8ta SIM card, I could even sell it to someone who sees value in it once the offer to the first one million customers expires. Otherwise I could hand it down to my descendants – after all, when will 8ta ever really know that I am dead?
I am sure there are those with far keener minds than mine for this sort of thing who are already finding better ways to exploit the situation to make even tidier little profits that were never envisaged by those who created it.
So I encourage you all to get an 8ta card or two. After all, this offer is for life – it says so on 8ta's Web site.
- By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town
Telkom mobile unit 8ta has introduced what could be the most valuable SIM card on the market. In fact, it is probably so valuable they could become cherished possessions to be handed from one generation to another.
8ta's launch offering of one free minute of call time for every three minutes of calls received is intriguing as it is. It is simply using the mobile termination rate, the charge networks levy on each other to carry calls from one network to another, to subsidise the roll out.
But, what really adds some zoom to this offer is that it is for life!
Come on, when was the last time, if ever, you have heard of an offer for life on anything? Especially one from a telecommunications company, that has earned something of a reputation for not being willing to give its clients ice in winter.
According to its terms and conditions, should I get an 8ta card now, I will be able to benefit from accumulating up to R500 worth of minutes per month from encouraging people to phone me. Fantastic!
Bundle of joy
The SMS bundle that comes with this offer is obviously designed to encourage the incoming calls. Many prepaid (pay-as-you-go) subscribers are sensitive to the amount of airtime they have available, so they send SMSes (such as the “Please call me”) to people they want to talk to and hope the other party makes the call. The practice is so widespread and accepted now that it makes commercial sense.
If I send out five paid SMSes, at 50c each, I get 50 free ones to send that day – that's a lot of “Please call me” messages and someone is sure to call. I can even resell the free ones at less than half price and still make a small profit.
Lifetime freebie
Come on, when was the last time, if ever, you have heard of an offer for life on anything?
But it is not just that, it is the arbitrage opportunity that this launch offering opens up. South Africans have for years being playing one network operator against the other in the prepaid market.
An informal, yet sophisticated, airtime trading market has been in existence for ages. People take note of the various special offers from network operators and then trade the airtime minutes among each other in order to get the best deals and someone will always end up with cash in their pockets. It is not illegal, it is just tax-free business.
I have seen such operations take place in various parts of the country. Often the participants seem to be taller than me, stronger than me and speak with some kind of accent. The conversations are more like those that took place on the old Johannesburg Stock Exchange trading floor (but politer) or at a racecourse.
However, at the end of each trading session, someone got to make a cheap call and someone got to put cash in the pocket.
Heirloom SIM
But the flaw has been to continually buy and sell the various cards and keep a close eye on the monthly offerings. Now, with the lifetime offer from 8ta, that is not as difficult as it was, as it has created a permanent arbitrage opportunity.
Now I can use my Vodacom card for outgoing cellular to cellular calls, encourage people to phone me on my 8ta card and resell that accumulated airtime and spare SMS for a small profit that should see me through beer money at least. Small profit is the way of the informal sector.
If I have more than one 8ta SIM card, I could even sell it to someone who sees value in it once the offer to the first one million customers expires. Otherwise I could hand it down to my descendants – after all, when will 8ta ever really know that I am dead?
I am sure there are those with far keener minds than mine for this sort of thing who are already finding better ways to exploit the situation to make even tidier little profits that were never envisaged by those who created it.
So I encourage you all to get an 8ta card or two. After all, this offer is for life – it says so on 8ta's Web site.
- By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town
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