Despite Telkom dithering on meeting the November deadline for the local loop unbundling process, the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has come in full support of communications minister Roy Padayachie's commitment to the date.
Citing business and regulatory hurdles, Telkom earlier this month warned that it was highly impossible to meet the November deadline.
On the other hand, Wilmari Hanni, ISPA management committee member, maintains: “The ISPA wholeheartedly endorses communications minister Roy Padayachie's commitment to the November 2011 deadline for local loop unbundling and calls on Telkom and ICASA [Independent Communications Authority of SA] to ensure that this deadline is met.”
Hanni is of the view that the unbundling of the local loop would greatly improve broadband connectivity in SA, saying this would be an effective way to kick-start further competition and service delivery.
“Of course, while necessary, local loop unbundling is going to be neither an easy nor a quick fix,” she acknowledges.
“A faster and simpler option to improve broadband and reduce costs is to allow for naked ADSL, where the telephone and ADSL line rentals are split and are not conditional on each other - this is an alternative that we believe the communications regulator should also seriously consider,” she says.
Missing link
She also singles out the local loop unbundling process as the missing link to lowering broadband prices and boosting connectivity.
This, she says, is because SA has made significant developments on other fronts, especially with the arrival of undersea cables that have brought SA a significant increase in bandwidth capacity, leading to a reduction in prices locally.
“This, in turn, will enable additional competition, which will drive prices down even further. The landing of the Seacom, Eassy and Wacs cables should open the market up and will definitely provide additional redundancy options,” she says.
According to Hanni, the cables will also increase speeds and reduce latency, once the local loop is unbundled and the last mile infrastructure is upgraded, saying this will bring an end to the congestion that currently afflicts last mile connectivity.
She is also of the view that the unveiling of Broadband Infraco should also play a role in helping to reduce bandwidth pricing.
“We hope it can successfully fulfil the other role government has set out for it, which is to drive broadband penetration, both in SA and across Africa,” she notes.
In regards to the local broadband prices, the ISPA notes that they remain too high.
However, Hanni points out, while local broadband prices still remain higher than they should be, the introduction last year of uncapped access by certain Internet service providers (ISPs) has fundamentally changed the manner in which businesses approach access.
“Whereas the key consideration in the past was the quantity of data being transferred, uncapped access has now placed the focus firmly on the speed of data transfer.
“While more speed currently equates to higher costs, the increasing levels of access to international capacity and the expected additional competition from international players will see both local and international bandwidth prices driven down further over the next few years,” she says.
Unique selling point
Hanni also adds that voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) technology has been proven to be able to drive down traditional telecommunication costs by as much as 30%.
“ISPs have been able to use VIOP as a unique selling point to customers, enabling them to not only drive down their telecommunications costs, but also to obtain the added value that comes with dealing with only one service provider for both voice and data services.”
Though the local loop unbundling process still hangs in limbo, Hanni, however, notes that local competition is in a healthy state.
“Competition will drive down pricing and lead to improved services and more service options for customers. At the same time, the increased number of Electronic Communications Network Service licences in the market has also boosted competition,” she points out.
She explains that these licences allow service providers to build their own networks. “This has already resulted in increased choice of service and more competitive solutions for both the consumer and business markets.”
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