The impending commercial activation of Seacom and updates from several other undersea cables have the telcos making moves to take advantage of what is coming.
Over the last few weeks, some of the more well-known telcos, including Vox Telecom and Internet Solutions, have released a spate of products positioned to use high-speed broadband expected to hit local shores over the next few years.
Huge Group executive chairman Anton Potgieter says the incoming capacity, while not cutting the price of services, will bring new services that were previously unavailable on the limited capacity in SA.
Huge has an overview of the market since the company provides managed solutions using the available telecoms operators and their infrastructure. According to Potgieter, for the telcos, the next big step will be in the video conferencing space. He points to Vox's new product released yesterday, Eyeris.
Bottled genie
Eyeris is a high-definition (HD) video conferencing solution, which will use the back-end hosted infrastructure of Vox Orion and Vox DataPro. Industry watchers have questioned the capability to run high-definition video conferencing across local networks; however, the company will combine it with Fishbone, its line binding technology, to increase capacity for the solution.
“The equipment can handle 28 simultaneous high-definition, or 60 simultaneous standard-definition video conferences, as well as voice conferencing,” explains Jacques du Toit, MD of Vox Orion.
Potgieter says SA can see more of these kinds of solutions hitting the market, saying Vox seems to be ahead of the curve with the new product. “While the first customers will have teething trouble, they will be ahead of the game when video conferencing becomes more popular.”
Three wishes
Even with the expected bandwidth, SA still has a long way to go before it sees services that have become commonplace in cutting-edge markets. “We are still some time away from things like HD streaming video, which we have seen in several established countries.”
The voice over IP (VOIP) market will see no real benefit from the increase in bandwidth, adds Potgieter. “The biggest hurdle in that space is interconnect fees, not access to speeds and bandwidth.”
Huge says it gains its opportunities through the new services it will help to manage. “The increase of service offerings we will see coming out of the bigger telcos can only really be good for us.”
Many of the telcos are building data centres, or buying into sites to provide hosting services. Others have taken up the Seacom call.
Pot of gold
Internet Solutions (IS) has been quickly racking up the number of new available products, including a business product for roaming, which allows customers to connect to several WiFi hotspots across the globe.
The company is one of the four known committed Seacom clients. “Seacom is an important milestone for the local telecommunications industry, as it is the first time that South African service providers, other than Telkom, will be able to make a long-term investment in the provisioning of high-speed, high-capacity international connectivity,” says Hillel Shrock, business solutions director at IS.
IS also sees the market moving to provide products that require more bandwidth at faster speeds. As an open access cable, Seacom allows companies, like IS, to buy a long-term contract, which - according to the Internet business - will provide a better space for partnership.
Before, companies were restrained by short-term contracts with SAT 3, provided only by Telkom.
X marks the spot
Despite the mass of exciting products on the horizon, the general consensus is that it will take some time before telecoms prices will actually drop.
Potgieter explains that, instead of dramatic price drops, providers will offer previously unavailable services at the same price points that are now available. “Wholesale providers will still have the same agenda - to make money.”
Seacom is also not the only cable that will be available on the African continent. The East African Marine System (Teams), West African Cable System, Main-One system and several others are on their way.
In preparation, Allied Technologies bought into 11% of Teams. It has also decided to compete in the Internet space and bought service provider Lateral Technology Concepts to that end.
The company declined to comment this morning on other opportunities it is exploring in the space.
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