Least-cost routing (LCR) as a business model is dead and it is no longer viable for the telecommunications sector to advocate the process.
This is according to MTN Business, which says it is replacing “legacy LCR deployments” with “more cost-effective” solutions. The operator says it can reduce overall communication expenditure by employing services and solutions based on voice over IP (VOIP) - such as session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking.
Managing executive of MTN Business, Angela Gahagan-Thomson, says the relatively new technology allows for the ability to reduce fixed-line calling costs for customers, which the network did in March when costs were reduced by almost 20%.
Gahagan-Thomson says, despite recent announcements by competitors, “[MTN Business] is significantly cheaper in the VOIP space”.
Next wave
She says telecommunications providers need to look at “the next wave of technologies” that follows on from LCR. SIP trunking, says MTN Business, is an important part of the new wave; one that the company believes “is changing the way in which inbound and outbound communication is experienced for all call types”.
SIP trunking, continues Gahagan-Thomson, is proven internationally where most carriers offer it, in a bid to reduce costs. “[Locally] a fixed voice call on the MTN Business network during office hours to Vodacom and MTN networks costs 72c per minute, while a local or regional call to a Telkom network costs 26c per minute.”
She says new technology signals a fundamental shift in the way South African businesses conduct operations, manage cost centres and deliver services. “SIP trunking is playing a vital role in the telecoms space where those who identify the opportunity it presents are leading the way.”
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