Speculation that SAT3 may be running into capacity issues in the near future is not dying down.<\/p>\n
Sources informed MyBroadband that SAT3 is running out of capacity fast and that the cable\u2019s fiber quality makes it difficult to implement the latest upgrade technologies.<\/p>\n
Telkom however denies these rumors, pointing out that SAT-3 and SAFE were recently upgraded to 120 Gb\/s and 90 Gb\/s respectively and that further upgrades are technically viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cables constitute a complex network and the utilisation is continuously monitored and plans executed to avoid the occurrence of any bottle necks or capacity shortfall. The current capacity growth rate depicts that a next upgrade of these cables will be required during 2008\/9,\u201d Telkom said.<\/p>\n
Some sources are however not questioning SAT3 capacity, but are rather asking whether Telkom may be intentionally limiting local capacity to serve its own agenda. Some experts feel that if capacity is not a problem as Telkom suggests, then why would there not be more of an abundance of international fiber bandwidth available to local ISPs.<\/p>\n
Many people and companies are pinning their hopes on Neotel to break Telkom\u2019s stranglehold on international fiber connectivity, but this may also not be as easy as expected.<\/p>\n
Neotel and SAT3<\/strong><\/p>\n Rumors further abound that Neotel may have difficulties providing full SAT3 circuits to their South African clients.<\/p>\n Telkom currently has exclusive SAT3 landing rights in South Africa, but communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri recently announced that these exclusivity agreements will be declared null-and-void in November 2007.<\/p>\n There is another Department of Communications<\/a> policy directive which aims to declare the undersea cable landing stations essential facilities, something that will effectively enable a player like Neotel to carry all national and international bandwidth \u2013 using SAT3 \u2013 without having to deal with Telkom.<\/p>\n Some question marks however remain as to what exactly the SAT3 shareholder agreement stipulates, and there is speculation that VSNL\u2019s shareholding in Neotel may not be enough to grant SA\u2019s second national operator the rights to cut out Telkom completely.<\/p>\n Neotel said that a key element in their strategy is to leverage the position and global capabilities of VSNL, their strategic equity partner. \u201cVSNL owns and operates multiple international submarine cables globally, which means it is also a significant shareholder in the SAT-3\/SAFE submarine cable system,\u201d Neotel pointed out.<\/p>\n Neotel could however not directly comment on whether they are experiencing problems to fully utilize SAT3 through their partnership with VSNL, saying that they are not currently in a position to divulge any further information.<\/p>\n Other options on the table<\/strong><\/p>\n While full SAT3 access is Neotel\u2019s fastest option to cut bandwidth costs and directly supply full-circuit international fiber connectivity to their clients,\u00a0they are\u00a0also exploring other avenues to achieve their bandwidth goals.<\/p>\n \u201cIn line with Neotel’s intention of making a real difference to the South African telecom customers and to the economy as a whole, we are pursuing multiple approaches to improving the international services available to South Africa,\u201d Neotel said.<\/p>\n Neotel further said that the introduction of genuine competition for international access, either by the termination of exclusivity on landing station rights of existing cable systems, or by the creation of newer submarine cables in the region, will inevitably result in better pricing for the customer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe added advantage of competition for international access will be the increased up-take of international bandwidth services by enterprises, and of international content services by consumers. This will be a key cornerstone towards the maturity of the South African telecoms market.\u201d<\/p>\n