Neotel sets high-speed Internet launch date of September
Neotel started its high-speed Internet trials – using CDMA2000 – in mid-July and according to the second national operator the feedback has been very encouraging.
“Neotel has initiated its pilot services using CDMA2000 technology in mid-July. The limited pilot has had a positive response thus far, and based on the feedback, further enhancements and improvements are being introduced into our processes and systems,” Neotel said.
The pilot services, which include high-speed internet services bundled with voice and SMS capability, are currently being rolled out in Gallo Manor, Woodmead, Sunninghill and Sunnyside in Pretoria.
“Based on the initial response, we are now in the process of expanding the scope of the pilot as planned, and will be selecting additional pilot customers from the numerous applicants and will contact the selected pilot customers over the next couple of weeks,” Neotel said.
Telkom’s competitor said that they are continuing to target the commercial readiness of these services immediately after the completion of their pilot services in September.
Launch date pushed back
The initial launch date for Neotel’s Internet access offerings was given as the fourth quarter of 2006. After this date could not be met it was pushed back by a few months.
At Neotel’s launch in August last year the MD, Ajay Pandey, said that “initial services for Residential customers and SMMEs will be made available before the second quarter of 2007 in limited geographies.” The Mail and Guardian also quoted Pandey as saying that he “expects to have its first residential customers connected by the end of March 2007.”
Neotel was however hamstrung by not having been allocated 800 MHz spectrum by ICASA – needed for their CDMA rollout – and a new date of July 2007 was given.
Neotel received 800 MHz spectrum from ICASA at the end of March, at which time the second national operator said that they were on track and ready to roll out initial services to consumers around the middle of 2007.
The latest date for the availability of services, designed to compete with Telkom’s offerings, is now September 2007.
WiMax rollout on track
Neotel said that their WiMax rollout, which will be used to bring ‘true broadband’ services to consumers, is on track.
“We are working, in parallel, towards the deployment of our true broadband services around the end of the year. A lot of the work that has gone into our CDMA services deployment, particularly for the processes and systems, can be easily replicated for the deployment of WiMAX services as well. This is contributing to the timely readiness of our WiMAX services,” Neotel said.
The company said that they have already introduced Wholesale International Transit services (for both Voice and IP Transit), as well as National Leased Line services. These services have offered customers, for the first time, true alternative infrastructure in the country.
“Neotel has also had a few major client wins, including the recently awarded SITA contract. Continuing on this path, Neotel is now preparing for the commercial introduction of a full-suite of next-generation enterprise services, as well as services for residential customers over the next 8 to 10 weeks,” it pointed out.
“We believe that ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’, and hence have kept relatively quiet regarding the detailed status on the roll-out of our various services. As our services are available to customers, the benefits of these offerings will become evident, and we hope that through our innovative products and world-class services, customers will find themselves able to use telecoms more constructively, conveniently and cost-effectively.”
More competition
While Neotel is busy trialing its CDMA services and getting ready to roll out WiMax, many new competitors are launching services and established players are further strengthening their foothold in the market.
Neotel’s biggest competitor, Telkom, has already rolled out WiMax and has further cut the price of its broadband offerings to make it more competitive. They have also launched new Do Broadband Closer packages which offer subscribers flat rated Internet and voice rates.
Players like ECN Telecoms and VoxTelecom are launching their own commercial voice offerings, and with interconnect agreements taking shape it is merely a matter of time before other larger ISPs join the fray.
With more competitively priced offerings from Telkom and new players promising significant reductions on national, international and cellular phone calls, Neotel is making it increasingly difficult for itself to take the market by storm.
Its initial focus may well be on the more lucrative corporate market, but it will have to target the residential and SMME market sooner rather than later if it does not want to be seen as just another first tier ISP, similar to Internet Solutions or Verizon Business.
Apart from sitting with a license which many local operators would love to have, Neotel has the advantage of owning its own infrastructure, having been allocated both CDMA and WiMax spectrum, and having a strong international partner in VSNL.
But until businesses and consumers start to directly benefit from these advantages – both in price and service delivery – it has reneged on its promise of bringing effective competition to the telecoms arena in SA and ending Telkom’s monopoly in the fixed line space.
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