The year that was
Broadband issues have again dominated the telecoms scene during the past year, but at a different level- moving from international connectivity to local backbone issues. Perhaps we were expecting too much too soon! After waiting for so many years for international access, companies and individuals alike still don’t have much to show for it in their everyday internet experience. We now have international connectivity but the local backbone is still in the making.
Although Telkom made bold announcements about offering download speeds of up to 10 Mbps, this has still not reached the majority of its customers. They are also very reluctant to commit to a date of when the 10 Mbps service will be ubiquitously available.
Then there was the Seacom cable system crash. It made many sit up and realise that one cannot just buy connectivity without restoration services. There is much confusion about the meaning of redundancy and restoration. To have a comprehensive back-up service, ISPs need to be connected to two different cable systems so that when one falls over, the load will automatically switch over to the other cable, Expensive? Yes, but essential if a 24 x 7 service is required. Ultimately you get what you pay for.
The World Cup was another event that dominated the telecoms and IT scene. Telkom did very well in meeting all the requirements and its network was in place well in time to take high bandwidth video signals from the stadiums to the FIFA broadcast centre without a hitch. This does not mean that they had no failures. At one time a contractor dug up a major fibre cable but because of redundancy and restoration planning there was never a blank screen in the control room.
The World Cup was not overlooked by the spammers and cyber criminals. As predicted by several security software companies, South Africa was not spared the onslaught that was seen when the event was held in Germany. Of course there are always those who cannot let an opportunity go by just in case they miss a real bargain. They certainly paid the price.
And then there was the big announcement of ADSL with no cap. Do I need to say much more than that an acceptable user policy is not workable? No cap and no speed have become the daily postings on the various broadband and other forums. There is no free lunch – someone has to pay!
During the year we have also seen some interesting offerings from companies that pay you for your incoming calls, or should I phrase it differently, companies that share part of the interconnect fee?
Just as I thought the mobile market had settled down, along came Cell C with an interesting 4G offer. Not sure what 4G really is, they claim a faster data rate and a better price coupled with quality of service. After all if they don’t deliver on their promise there is always their CEO – customer experience officer – standing by. As it is not yet available in Gauteng, I have not had the privilege of trying it out but I must say it is a clever move to stick to the lower frequency band to get wider coverage with fewer base stations.
And as if Cell C’s offering wasn’t enough to unsettle the other two cellular companies, Telkom rocked their comfort zone with 8ta. Flat rates, no free midnight roaming, just simple-to-understand rates with some innovative bonuses to earn free talk time!
That was the year that was – well up to the time I sat down to write this, and then came the welcome announcement of a new Minister of Communication and ICASA’s interconnect rate announcement. Who knows what reaction there will be in the mobile market between going to print and you reading this.
Although no World Cup this time, 2011 looks to be a promising and exciting year.
The year that was << Comments and views
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