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Electricity companies to power up phonelines
January 25 2005 at 07:14PM
By Rebecca Harrison
South African electricity companies plan to launch a phone service to rival state-controlled Telkom that could get landline access to almost all SA's poor at a third of current prices.
The new service would deliver voice and data via existing electricity lines and local companies hope to launch the technology in the Johannesburg and Pretoria area in the second quarter of 2005, the head of Johannesburg City Power's telecoms business said on Tuesday.
"This could be a major leap in providing underserviced areas in (poor) communities with telecoms at an excellent rate," Teddy Naidoo told an African Telecoms Summit in Johannesburg.
Although pay-as-you-go mobile phones are common even among the poorest South Africans, only one in 10 people have a landline due to the high prices charged by the fixed-line monopoly, and poor infrastructure.
Cheaper phone and Internet access would help slim the economic divide and slash the cost of doing business in South Africa, encouraging foreign investors.
Electricity firms say many more people in rural areas and townships would be able to get their first landline if they could access voice and data via power lines, which connect about 98 percent of households.
The companies, which will own the key last mile of power connections to people's homes under an industry shake-up later this year, are also considering leasing their power lines to Telkom and to a planned second national operator, although they reckon they would make more money running the network themselves.
The so-called powerline communications (PLC) technology has been tested and operated in a number of countries but has yet to catch on in a big way. One of the first trials was undertaken by Germany's RWE .
Doubts about the technology and competition from other ways of delivering broadband and phone services have hampered its development.
Industry website www.plcforum.org says more than 80 PLC schemes in more than 40 countries have been launched, the more important ones including France's Electricite de France, Portugal's EDP, Endesa and Iberdrola in Spain and Britain's Scottish and Southern.
A South African official said the technology currently being tested was supplied by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric. Switzerland's Ascom is among other manufacturers of powerline equipment.
City Power hopes that other regions will quickly follow Johannesburg and Pretoria, meaning they could eventually band together to offer a national network without relying on Telkom for long-distance calls.
Naidoo could not put a figure on the cost of the roll-out but said customers would pay a R1 000 connection fee.
A licensing expert at communications regulator ICASA said electricity firms would in theory be allowed to run a commercial network after deregulation of the industry next month, but that it would need a licence first.
Naidoo said it was in the process of applying for a VANS (value added network service provider) licence but would need to wait until the exact terms of the February shake-up were clear.
City Power reckons 150 000 customers in Johannesburg and 300 000 in Pretoria - around half of its current customer base - will either switch their phone line from Telkom or get a land line for the first time using the new service.
Initial estimates showed power companies could offer calls at roughly a third of Telkom's current tariffs, Naidoo said.
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I would start worrying if I were Telkom - just about 98% of the country has electricity compared to Telkom's pathetic little ~5%.. I will gladly pay the R1,000 installation fee knowing that my rates will be lower - and that these are people who actually *want* to empower SA people by providing them with affordable communications. Go go go let's get this up and running..!
* * * * * * * * * * *
Electricity companies to power up phonelines
January 25 2005 at 07:14PM
By Rebecca Harrison
South African electricity companies plan to launch a phone service to rival state-controlled Telkom that could get landline access to almost all SA's poor at a third of current prices.
The new service would deliver voice and data via existing electricity lines and local companies hope to launch the technology in the Johannesburg and Pretoria area in the second quarter of 2005, the head of Johannesburg City Power's telecoms business said on Tuesday.
"This could be a major leap in providing underserviced areas in (poor) communities with telecoms at an excellent rate," Teddy Naidoo told an African Telecoms Summit in Johannesburg.
Although pay-as-you-go mobile phones are common even among the poorest South Africans, only one in 10 people have a landline due to the high prices charged by the fixed-line monopoly, and poor infrastructure.
Cheaper phone and Internet access would help slim the economic divide and slash the cost of doing business in South Africa, encouraging foreign investors.
Electricity firms say many more people in rural areas and townships would be able to get their first landline if they could access voice and data via power lines, which connect about 98 percent of households.
The companies, which will own the key last mile of power connections to people's homes under an industry shake-up later this year, are also considering leasing their power lines to Telkom and to a planned second national operator, although they reckon they would make more money running the network themselves.
The so-called powerline communications (PLC) technology has been tested and operated in a number of countries but has yet to catch on in a big way. One of the first trials was undertaken by Germany's RWE .
Doubts about the technology and competition from other ways of delivering broadband and phone services have hampered its development.
Industry website www.plcforum.org says more than 80 PLC schemes in more than 40 countries have been launched, the more important ones including France's Electricite de France, Portugal's EDP, Endesa and Iberdrola in Spain and Britain's Scottish and Southern.
A South African official said the technology currently being tested was supplied by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric. Switzerland's Ascom is among other manufacturers of powerline equipment.
City Power hopes that other regions will quickly follow Johannesburg and Pretoria, meaning they could eventually band together to offer a national network without relying on Telkom for long-distance calls.
Naidoo could not put a figure on the cost of the roll-out but said customers would pay a R1 000 connection fee.
A licensing expert at communications regulator ICASA said electricity firms would in theory be allowed to run a commercial network after deregulation of the industry next month, but that it would need a licence first.
Naidoo said it was in the process of applying for a VANS (value added network service provider) licence but would need to wait until the exact terms of the February shake-up were clear.
City Power reckons 150 000 customers in Johannesburg and 300 000 in Pretoria - around half of its current customer base - will either switch their phone line from Telkom or get a land line for the first time using the new service.
Initial estimates showed power companies could offer calls at roughly a third of Telkom's current tariffs, Naidoo said.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I would start worrying if I were Telkom - just about 98% of the country has electricity compared to Telkom's pathetic little ~5%.. I will gladly pay the R1,000 installation fee knowing that my rates will be lower - and that these are people who actually *want* to empower SA people by providing them with affordable communications. Go go go let's get this up and running..!
