Cape Town, 07 Sep 2004
The need for convergence legislation and the business case for the second national operator (SNO) have been placed in serious doubt, says Telkom CEO Sizwe Nxasana.
Nxasana was speaking at a debate at the Telkom SATNAC conference held outside Cape Town yesterday on questions about the overall impact of government`s decision to liberalise the telecommunications market.
"Demands from customers will supersede whatever is contained in the Convergence Bill. What we need now are clear and simple rules that have to be flexible as well. The SNO case has been in doubt because government`s latest decision effectively creates almost 300 potential public telephone service network providers," Nxasana said.
Last week communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri surprised the ICT sector with her decision to allow value-added network services to use any protocol and resell spare capacity.
This has now effectively legalised the use of voice over Internet Protocol from 1 February. Until then, only Telkom, which has a full service licence, can provide these services.
Nxasana added that the minister`s decision had opened up new opportunities for Telkom, including the possibility for it to partner with niche service operators to supply, for instance, indigenous language content on various services.
"The decision was not a threat to Telkom`s business, but rather it has opened up the arena for us too," he said.
Fundamental change
Other members of the panel endorsed Nxasana`s views and added that convergence (the use of voice and data and the linking of fixed-line and mobile technologies) meant the nature of the telecommunications market had changed fundamentally from five years ago.
Paul Excell from British Telecom said his advice to Telkom is to work closely with the regulator (the Independent Communications Authority of SA) and ensure that customers receive good service and simple product offerings.
"British Telecom`s experience shows that customers don`t really care what the underlying technology is. They want a simple product offering that is easy to cost out and meets their needs. It has become a lifestyle choice," he said.
"It is not about technology - it is about what the customer wants," said Pieter Uys, COO of mobile operator Vodacom.
"Regulation is a necessary evil," said Adrian Scrase of ETSI, the European telecommunications standards authority. "However, whether a piece of legislation is needed to regulate convergence is seriously in doubt."
Last week government said it would make further policy announcements in October. These will address the issue of service-based licences to be operational by May 2005, the remaining underserviced area licences, the SNO, the Convergence Bill and the ICT black empowerment charter.
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