New internet access facility makes virtual office a reality

Previously, if you wanted to send emails and surf the net, there was only 2.5g (GPRS) but the system was too slow to operate effectively.

However, of biggest importance to business owners, will be that you can use 3G from your laptop or PC with a special datacard to connect to the internet.

You can also connect 3G to run a local area network (LAN) using a special router. Because 3G uses cellphone tower infrastructure you will be able to soon access the internet from anywhere.

However for the time being the 3G network is only accessable in the main metropolitan areas of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

But according to Vodacom Group Chief Operating Officer Pieter Uys, business owners will still be able to access the internet outside of these areas, as it will simply switch to using the GPRS network, be it at slower speeds of 40-60kilobytes (kb).

Using the data card you pay only for the amount of information you download and not to connect.

This means you can foreseeably leave your connection on for 24hrs without having to spend anything extra.

The Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card allows you to access 1 gigabyte (gb) of information a month for R599. You can send SMSs and MMSs (media messaging services), from your desktop but these will be billed above your monthly subscription.

For every 10 megabytes (mb) over the cap, you’ll have to fork out an extra R10. Some say that 1gb is not a lot of information.

In comparison Telkom’s ADSL is capped at 3G. But Uys says if business owners arrange upfront to buy 2 or 3gb it will only cost them R1 198 or R1 797 respectively.

Currently 3G transmission speeds range from 144kb/sec to 384kb/sec (faster than dial-up at 56kb and ISDN at up to 256kb) but Uys says this will increase to 2mb/sec in April. Presently Telkom ADSL is up 512kb/sec.

However, it is important to note on a network because of shared bandwidth, your connection speed on ADSL or 3G will decrease somewhat.

Vodacom claims that 1GB of free data allows the user to send up to 200 000 emails, or browse up to 25 000 web pages, or download around 10 000 Word documents, or up to 20 000 PowerPoint presentations.

Similar offers are available through the following:

-MyWireless: under Sentech, the packages come in three speed forms, 128kb, 256kb and 512kb. These cost R650, R849 and R1 449 a month respectively and all run for 24-months. The service is not bandwidth capped.

-iBurst: which is run by Wireless Business Solutions and will be launched in April, will charge clients R679-R699 a month. This provides them with access speeds of up to 1mb/s. The service is capped at 3 gb. This makes both iBurst and MyWireless’s 512kb faster than Vodacom’s 3G.

As with Vodacom only specific urban areas are covered, because both are run off wireless signals. Users may also encounter line-of-site problems, such as buildings obscuring your connection.

If you are using 3G in your cellphone, handsets will typically be priced above normal GSM phones, with Motorola’s 3G-enabled handsets, ranging from about R2 499 to R5 999. The E1000 is one such phone.