Is SA ready for convergence?

By Damaria Senne for Siemens
Johannesburg, 06 Sep 2005

Convergence is not new to SA and the technology to implement it is in place, delegates at the ITWeb business communications executive forum heard this morning.

[VIDEO]The forum, which took place at the Hilton in Sandton, investigated the merging of data-centric and voice-centric technology into a seamless, effective solution.

The issue of convergence is no longer one of technology, said Greg Bezuidenhout, enterprise networks divisional MD at Siemens. SA has the technology to effect convergence, he says, and it is already being utilised.

The challenge is financial, he said. "Companies need to know what benefits convergence will bring them. Will money be saved? Will the new technology help increase profits?"

"Although users have become more sophisticated and demand more services," said Siemens telecommunications CEO Jan Mrosik, "they remain price conscious." He notes that in the past, technology that failed did so for one of two reasons: it was too expensive, or too complex for the user.

[VIDEO]Based on IP PBX research conducted by Frost and Sullivan in Europe, Brett Gascoine, Frost and Sullivan director, agreed. IP PBX adoption is not growing as quickly as it was expected to in that region, he said.

While the UK and Scandinavia have embraced IP PBX, he says, countries such as Germany, France and Italy have been more restrained. A lack of funds in the case of Germany, caution and the decision to introduce phased adoption in the case of France and concern about price in Italy, were offered as explanations for the slow adoption. However, the market is expected to grow by 38% by 2007/8, he says.

The challenge for vendors, said Bezuidenhout, lies in demonstrating to the consumer that the new technology offers more benefits.

Service providers should target business users, Mrosik suggested, as they are frequent technology users and may not have the financial constraints that individual users may have.

[VIDEO]The issue of convergence will continue to be debated next week at the Southern African Telecommunications Network and Applications Conference (SATNAC 2005) in the Drakensberg.

The conference takes place from 12 to 14 September and will bring together international and local industry leaders. Telkom says while convergence is currently being debated at a political level, SATNAC aims to focus on the technology issues that drive it.

Through panel discussions, topics to be discussed include: what digital users can expect from services convergence, key enablers to achieve convergence and the importance of broadband as an enabler of convergence.