Why uncapped ADSL?
3 GB has been deemed enough for web surfing and checking emails by Telkom and it has become the figure that has stuck. This decision not only restricts ordinary Internet users but also innovation in the local IT industry.
While users may be able to check their email, download a few Windows updates and surf the web with this allowance, this is not what the broadband revolution is all about. It is about ample bandwidth, streaming media, easily accessible information and new innovative bandwidth intensive services like P2P and Triple Play.
Placing limitations on a broadband service means that users will start to watch their bandwidth usage and restrict their general usage of the Internet. In such an environment there is little room for an entrepreneur to develop services specifically aimed at broadband users.
It is not surprising that there is a very limited amount of multimedia like video or even audio available in the local web arena. Unlike CNN or BBC local news sites like IOL or News24 do not even bother to invest in video material of news events. Even basic podcasting is a rarity in the local arena.
In uncapped broadband environments users are likely to explore online services and will start investigating what they can do with this service they pay for. Whether it is online radio, video streaming or online gaming, people will start to use the net for various purposes which in turn will create revenue generating opportunities for providers.
Currently consumers generally make use of international online services, but this is only due to the lack of affordable local competitors. With lower bandwidth rates and higher broadband penetration these local services will definitely develop to cater for the needs of local broadband users.
The limitations on usage clearly have a very negative effect on the local online and IT environments, but bitcaps are not the only restrictive factor. The speed of our connections is exceptionally slow in comparison with international standards. Analysts will be hard pressed to find a 192 DSL broadband service overseas!
Fixed line broadband connections of 20 Mbps and higher is commonplace in many international countries and these higher speeds in return spurs innovation.
The question many people may ask about Hong Kong’s 1 Gbps connection is what on earth a residential user would want to use such a high speed service for. This is exactly what spurs innovation!
According to Ewan Sutherland, the former director of INTUG, companies are monitoring the behaviour of users with these high speed connections, trying to determine what they want and what services they can develop on top of these high speed services.
The service providers are basically throwing bandwidth at users and sitting back to see what they do with it and from this vantage point they are then able to tailor-make products and services. Now that is an innovative way to view the high end users that Telkom have termed ‘abusers’ in the South African environment.
Unless South Africa starts to fall in line with international standards our companies and IT community as a whole will start to lag far behind their international counterparts. Even some basic broadband services offered internationally may be out of reach of the local broadband fraternity.
Sutherland even suggests that certain hardware specifications may fall out of range for countries who fail to keep up. Stated simply, the manufacturers will start to make products for the big chunk of the global broadband community and those falling behind will loose out.
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