Mobile Net starts getting about
As Telkom drags its feet in connecting people to its ADSL service, competitors have raised the stakes in bringing wireless technology to consumers.
Sphiwe Chireka, an analyst at Frost and Sullivan, said: “The poor state of fixed-line infrastructure is creating the potential for the African mobile market to boom.
“Mobile Internet has emerged as the solution to Africa’s ‘last mile’ connectivity problem,” Chireka said.
Neotel has begun the deployment of its wireless technology for home and business users using CDMA 2000, which is similar to HSDPA.
Both HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) and CDMA (code division multiple access) use cellular technology to connect to the Internet for high-speed digital access.
Fani Zulu, Neotel spokesman, said: “We started our pilot service in November with internal Neotel customers, and this year we want to bring more external customers on board.”
Cellphone giant Vodacom said yesterday it would be providing its latest 3G technology, HSDPA 3.6, to its existing customers for free until the end of April.
Dot Field, Vodacom spokeswoman, said: “We will be extending the offer to all our customers (who have an HSDPA 3.6-capable terminal) for three months across all 3G coverage areas.”
Neotel is providing customers with home telephones that plug into a wall socket to access the CDMA network instead of the conventional Telkom landline service.
From the beginning of May, Vodacom's HSDPA 3.6 service will be offered to contract and prepaid customers as a value-added service at R49 per month, in addition to the current data charge levied (starting at R250).
Telkom’s ADSL offering, which is rolling out at snail’s pace, costs up to R520 a month.
Mobile Internet is significantly more cost-effective to deploy than fixed-line services and allows users access while they are on the move.
Poor infrastructure development in some countries, as reflected in South Africa’s current power crisis, creates difficulties for operators in rolling out mobile Internet services.
“We understand that continuity of supply will be a problem, but we will install generators at our sites. A shortage of electricity can be a serious business risk,” Neotel’s Zulu said.
“Mobile Internet service providers need to form partnerships with cellular firms as well as technology and infrastructure providers to see how best they can provide cheaper or more affordable handsets that will provide good quality service,” said Chireka.
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