Neotel has gained full access to the SAT3\/SAFE landing stations and has subsequently built the necessary infrastructure to carry bandwidth from the undersea cables to businesses across the country over their own network.<\/p>\n
This means that Neotel can now offer their customers international connectivity without the need to use Telkom\u2019s network \u2013 something which Neotel previously said was a prerequisite from some companies before buying services from them.<\/p>\n
Challenges however remain in bringing international bandwidth prices down.<\/p>\n
According to Angus Hay, Chief Technology Officer at Neotel, the fact that a private consortium controls the SAT3\/SAFE system and determines pricing for bandwidth on this cable system remains a big challenge in forcing international bandwidth prices downwards.<\/p>\n
Competition coming<\/strong><\/p>\n Competition is however not too far away with SEACOM \u2013 an undersea cable system running along the East Coast of Africa – set to launch in June 2009.<\/p>\n Neotel will land the SEACOM cable in South Africa and has already started building infrastructure with this in mind.<\/p>\n The SEACOM landing station is situated directly on the company\u2019s 10 Gbps core national network \u2013 on the Durban-Richards Bay link \u2013 which makes carrying international traffic to the rest of the country seamless.<\/p>\n The SEACOM cable and landing station will be operated on open access principles, and pricing for bandwidth has already been published in the public domain.<\/p>\n SEACOM indicated that pricing will be as low as R 267.00 per Mbps\/month, multiple times less than the current Telkom rates.<\/p>\n Neotel National Network<\/strong><\/p>\n Neotel already has an extensive national network boasting a dual 10 Gbps core, and switched on the new SITA network which was built on top of their current infrastructure on 6 February 2008.<\/p>\n This network brings a great deal more bandwidth to South Africa at a national and inner-city level, and according to SITA, one of Neotel\u2019s largest clients, the difference is clearly visible.<\/p>\n \u201cUsers may not have seen a major difference with their screens, but they surely noticed a difference in speed,\u201d said Llewelyn Jones, CEO, SITA.<\/p>\n