?Essentially what we have in the SA telecommunications environment right now, is the clear intent to transform, as signified by the opening up of what has been a strictly controlled, very closed market,? says Hillel Shrock, director of New Business at Internet Solutions (IS). ?But such change does not happen overnight, and there are a host of knock-on affects and adjustments which are being felt by the local ICT industry.?
Schrock reveals that IS has seen slow take-up of the latest technology offerings, as the corporate sector investigated this newly opened sector, but is now experiencing an acceleration of VOIS customers, considering the technology and deploying solutions built around it.
These deployments are all focused on creating a converged communications architecture, the primary benefit of which model is a single packaged solution with one contact point, one contract and one support team taking care of a variety of business communications requirements.
?The benefits of a converged architecture go beyond merely Rand savings. The silo model to technology sectors is falling away, meaning that the customer need only establish one relationship to obtain an end-to-end ICT solution,? comments Schrock.
He remains sceptical of the upcoming Convergence Bill, claiming that the intent of the bill is not matched by the results of the drafting process so far. Issues involving 3G, and specifically relating to the rights of a licensed entity, remain unclear, meaning that issues like interconnect agreements, and the lack of a numbering system, continue to hamper the real value of convergence.
He states: ?It is not an easy balance to achieve. The incumbents have entrenched rights to protect, while only competition can develop the technologies underpinning these rights, so keeping both sides happy is almost impossible. However, our argument is that no rights should be protected against fair competition. We are competing in a global economy, and the protection of 25-year old rights is not conducive to the current economic ambitions of the country.?
This regulatory protection is also being applied as a means to ensure that new services can be rolled out to the unserviced, but Shrock believes that efforts in this vein continue to be entirely unsuccessful, and calls for a new approach, open to competition and innovation, to be taken. ?Looking to the future, something a bit courageous must be done.?
Broadband access is another major concern for this Internet-oriented organization, and Shrock expresses concern that the digital elitism currently evidenced by the high price of ADSL services is set to throw the digital divide into sharp relief. He maintains that the way in which broadband is handled could be formative to our future society, as this technology delivers access to the invaluable assets of education and information.
Concludes Shrock: ?Telkom is a world-class competitor, and competition will hurt no-one. It will improve the way in which South Africans are served while lowering prices. I do not think you can have too much competition either, so there is no reason why other organizations should not be allowed to offer connectivity solutions here. How can one argue that a single entity?s rights need be protected, when there are significantly larger issues which can otherwise be resolved??