French company Orange, which began its consumer foray in SA earlier this year, desperately wants to expand its telecommunications services in the country - Africa's economic hub - but cannot do so with its current regulatory framework.
On the cards for its South African plans, says Orange, is Internet Protocol television (IPTV), mobile money, Internet services and even a new mobile player, in the form of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).
While the company's aspiration of becoming a full-blown MVNO in SA is no secret, the array of services Orange is considering go beyond the run of the mill mobile menu South Africans currently have with SA's incumbent mobile network operators.
However, says Orange Horizons MD S'ebastien Crozier, some fundamental regulatory changes need to be implemented by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to facilitate the entry of other players for the ushering in of competition - and ultimately innovation - in the country.
Crozier says SA is a pivotal market for Orange, which has a direct presence in 18 African countries, and the company will work hard to nudge regulation in the right direction for what he says is a win-win situation for the industry, consumers and SA at large.
While he categorically refutes the lingering speculation that Orange is looking to acquire a local telecoms operation, Crozier says: "As far as being an MVNO goes, we absolutely want this and we will ask ICASA monthly, weekly, daily for regulation to allow us to become one."
IPTV play
Crozier notes IPTV is another feature that is practically old news to European countries, but remains a distant dream in SA. Orange would like to change that, he says. "In terms of IPTV, we are ready to invest in SA if the regulations are clear."
The company offers triple-play services in the countries in which it is present as an Internet service provider (ISP), he says. The offering includes Internet access, IP phone services and IPTV.
"We could arrange to become an ISP in SA and bring the country IPTV. Even in countries where we are not the incumbent, we offer IPTV. But it is a question of regulation and, of course, agreements would need to be put in place with the incumbents.
"This would present a huge opportunity for SA, if the regulation was clear and organised among the many players."
In SA, notes Crozier, IPTV would be possible via ADSL, and fibre would be crucial. "But the [fibre] market is much too oriented to the business arena and not enough players are concerned with the home side. If you want IPTV in your house you need fibre to the home. Long-term evolution is not an option, because the technology just doesn't provide enough frequencies."
At the end of the day, however, a company that wants to offer services to a country needs to invest, and that investment, in turn, needs to be protected by regulation, he says.
Crozier cites the wholesale to retail pricing structure in SA as a case in point. "For one thing, the price you buy wholesale is capped and therefore if the retail price decreases beyond a certain point, you have a problem. We see this often in SA, with promotions where the retail price is under the wholesale price - and there is no regulation forbidding this unfair practice.
"If [operators] can create promotions at this level and cut prices by such a huge amount, it means prices are too high. In France, for EUR25 mobile consumers get unlimited voice, unlimited SMS and 3GB of data. Everyone in France has that.
"That is why there is a lack of MVNO activity in SA - and a lack of innovation. In order to have innovation you have to have competition. IPTV is innovation."
Working together
Crozier says Orange's South African aspirations boil down to an opening up of the market, rather than competing for the cake.
"We are not big competition like the four mobile operators, but want to be seen as a player in the market - and this is not something we can do alone. We will have to talk to other players and we are open-minded. We are ready to share our [international] experiences and discuss ways of working together in SA.
"We don't want to fight - we just want to compete in a fair way to bring more to the consumer. If we can do this together, it will be good for the nation."
Noting the Orange group's many other international operations, Crozier says the company has capacity to go forward on a trial and error basis.
"We can accept error, but in order to do that we need the right regulation in place. This is not to say SA must change, but I think there needs to be more debate around some of these issues. Telecoms is the blood of a country."
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