Fixed lines face competition
Several new wireless voice services in the local market now offer a viable alternative to a conventional fixed-line telephone service and include internet connectivity.
The latest offering is iBurst’s Office In a Box, a small unit that provides PBX, wireless phone handsets, internet access and Wi-Fi functionality for up to eight users and was launched earlier this month. It costs from R578 a month, including the equipment and internet connectivity, plus an installation fee of R1500, and is aimed at small businesses, says iBurst MD Alan Knott-Craig jnr.
The Wi-Fi function allows users to move around the office with their laptops and remain connected to the service, he says.
Earlier this year iBurst launched its WebPhone wireless voice and data service for consumers and small businesses.
He says that the service allows consumers and one-man businesses to connect to the internet and make phone calls over the iBurst wireless network at R199 a month, including the phone handset and modem, and a per-minute call charge, with no installation fee.
Phone calls cost 10% to 20% less than the conventional fixed-line telephone service for local calls, up to 30% less for national calls, 60% less for international calls and 20% less when phoning a cellular subscriber, he says.
“Calls made across our network to others using our service are free.”
In May this year Neotel launched NeoConnect Prime, a CDMA-based wireless service for the consumer market that includes telephony, high-speed broadband internet connectivity at up to 2,4 megabits per second, and SMS functionality, says Mukul Sharma, executive head of Neotel’s consumer business.
The service costs from R399 to R999 and includes internet connectivity, the equipment, and a bundle of free minutes and SMSs, depending on the package, he says.
Neotel also recently introduced an entry-level service, NeoConnect Lite, that offers speeds up to 156 kilobits per second and costs from R299 to R469, depending on the data download capacity required.
Sharma says both services come with a combination desk phone and modem that has a wireless antenna and plugs into the USB port of a PC or laptop. SMSs can be sent and received from the phone itself, which is equipped with a display.
Primetel recently launched a CDMA-driven voice and data service that is branded WDSL and provides consistent speeds of 4, 8 or 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and even higher depending on the service option, says MD Michael Alter.
The service takes about two weeks to install and costs R670 per month for the 4Mbps version, which is about 10% more than a 4Mbps fixed-line ADSL service, he says.
With the 4Mbps option, a 1Mbps portion is allocated to voice communication that is delivered at close to the quality of a conventional fixed line phone service, says Alter.
“The 4Mbps service will support 40 to 60 simultaneous calls, as well as one to two Mbps for data without degrading the service.”
“We signed up a customer recently that had been left without a service for eight months due to cable theft.”
He says they provide coverage in Bryanston, Fourways, Sunninghill, Randburg, Roodeport, Parkwood, Klopperpark, Boksburg, Kempton Park, Edenvale and within a 15km to 2km radius of these locations, and is gradually extending this to other areas nationally. It requires five customers to justify setting up an antenna that provides coverage over a 15km radius.
“A company was so desperate it signed up for five services and another gathered a group of five businesses together to justify the service,” says Alter.
Telecoms competition discussion
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