Eskom load shedding boost 3G laptop sales
While Eskom’s load shedding is causing untold havoc with consumers and businesses alike, it is not all bad news for everyone – it seems notebook retailers are looking at a potential increase in the sale of laptops and wireless 3G connections.
This is according to Christopher Riley, CEO The Notebook Company. Riley said if Eskom’s capacity problems continue for the next few years – as it is predicted they will – one of the knock-on effects will be an increase in the sale of laptops with 3G connections as business professionals try to circumvent the communications impasse caused by the rolling blackouts.
“Load shedding is having a disastrous impact on business. Besides a 200% climb in the sale of generators, we are predicting an explosive growth of people opting for 3G connectivity. We are getting an increasing number of inquiries.”
But while this spells good news for the suppliers of notebooks, going wireless is not a perfect solution. “The use of laptops and 3G wireless connections will circumvent much of the communication problems caused by Eskom’s rolling power blackouts, but it must be remembered that if, for instance, Vodacom towers are off due to power problems, wireless users will also be left in the dark, so to speak,” said Riley.
Riley points out that even if there is an increased number of wirelessly connected laptops the transferring of information remains a problem.
“If a connected laptop user sends a business file to a client in an area being affected by a power blackout, that information – which may be vital – might only be received hours later when power is resumed,” said Riley.
Vodacom, meanwhile, has stated that they do not expect any major disruptions as their core infrastructure is equipped with battery backup, standby generators – or both. Vodacom said that when it comes to base stations the battery backups can last up to eight hours, depending on the frequency of outages in an area.
Cell C said that while they have taken the necessary precautions to prevent any service disruptions due to power outages, it can be a costly affair and the outages have already put them out of pocket to the tune of around R 2 Million in 2007.
MTN also said that they do not expect any significant service disruptions due to electricity load shedding, and added that none of its services – including its GPRS and 3G data services – have been affected so far.
“To ensure that MTN customers are not affected by power outages, all MTN sites are equipped with UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supplies) with at least eight hours of battery backup. In addition, all switching centres and key sites are equipped with diesel generators,” the company said.
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