Freed up to prowl
ALTECH COULD STILL BE interested in building a national WiMax network in South Africa, but only as part of a broader consortium. CEO Craig Venter has more capacity to consider this and other strategic initiatives after the appointment of former Netstar CEO Andy Baker as the group chief operating officer (COO) from January.
Venter confirmed that the group could become even more aggressive regarding doing strategic deals in the future after implementing the new management structure earlier this year. This could include making additional acquisitions and pursuing other strategic opportunities.
Building a national WiMax network in partnership with other investors could be one opportunity, but was “not the bee-all” for the group, Venter said. However, he believes it could still be in the running for such a licence, despite being left off Icasa’s list of value-added network service providers (Vans; its licence is through Altech Autopage) that could qualify for electronic communications network services provider (ECNS) licences. He’s been in discussions with the regulator and believes Vans will still have the opportunity to apply to build a national network.
WiMax is a wireless broadband technology with significant reach and, depending on the standard, the ability for mobility (this is the standard that Altech’s been testing).
Venter said it had initially not been able to complete its WiMax trial due to interference on the frequency spectrum that Icasa had awarded it for the test licence. But, Icasa had since extended this test licence for another six months and cleared the interference. Venter said the delay in being able to complete the test may actually be to its advantage, given that the manufacturers had yet to come out with mobile WiMax handsets, something they were now promising by the middle of this year.
Venter said the market was in dire need of open, independent competition.
Altech could be well placed to build a national wireless network more cost effectively than most given that it already has high sites as part of Netstar’s network, and the Tetra networks it rolled out for the Police in Gauteng and Cape Town.
Time will tell.
Up Africa, meanwhile, Altech has already started commissioning its WiFi mesh network in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. It has a full WiMax and WiFi network in that country and also recently concluded the purchase of Kenya’s Sameer ICT Group, making it a player in the East African data space.
Baker, who has been in his new role for the past three months, will meet institutions and analysts, in some cases for the first time, when the group presents its full-year financial results to February in early May.
Venter says Baker’s appointment doesn’t mean he’ll be totally hands-off the group’s operations, but said it had reached a size, complexity and geographic spread where it had become virtually impossible for one person to manage it. Altech’s operations span India, Australia, Malaysia, Nigeria, as well as Kenya and Rwanda.
Venter said the COO appointee had to have been someone with whom he had a very good working relationship, and this has proven to be the case with Baker.
Finweek
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