One SIM for SA cellular networks planned

Internet Solutions (IS) is working on a service that will offer a white-labelled subscriber identity module (SIM) that could switch end users between South Africa’s mobile networks.

This is according to chief solutions and marketing officer at Internet Solutions, Tony Walt, who said that the idea is that the SIM could select the best network based on a number of factors, including cost.

Walt was speaking to MyBroadband about the benefits of a wholesale open access mobile network, which is a cellular network where mobile service providers share specific sections of wireless network infrastructure.

One of the benefits of a wholesale network, according to executives at South Africa’s mobile operators, is that it spreads the running costs among several companies that then compete with one another.

Tony Walt

This would help make it feasible to provide better cellular coverage to under-serviced areas, Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom Mobile have said previously.

According to Walt, an open access network could also be built in such a way to let smaller, niche service providers enter the space; this would spur competition and in turn, innovation.

He said that similar to smaller Wi-Fi-based wireless Internet service providers, these niche operators could focus on serving their communities with competitive mobile products that larger players either can’t or won’t provide.

This raised the question of how subscribers on operators with a smaller footprint would access the rest of the wholesale network. Would this not result in complex roaming regulations or other requirements on operators using the wholesale network?

Walt said that such interoperability wouldn’t come from the regulator, but from the industry itself. Not beating about the bush, Walt said that Internet Solutions is one such industry player best-positioned to do this.

Even without the benefit of an open access network, Walt said that IS is looking at offering a white-labelled SIM that third-party providers could buy from them and brand however they wish.

Hayden Lamberti

Asked which networks these SIMs would connect to, Hayden Lamberti, mobility lead at Internet solutions said that they couldn’t give a definite answer at this stage.

“We are consulting with our technical teams to ensure we could build a solution that would offer the best chance of uninterrupted service to our clients, and at this point we are still in an exploratory stage,” Lamberti said.

It is also far too soon to say when they expect to start offering the white-labelled SIM, he added.

“Internet Solutions is investigating the viability of such an option, and conducting various feasibility studies,” Lamberti said.

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