A presentation about offshore opportunities turned into a telecommunications griping session in Cape Town yesterday after the presenter, Paul Tomlin, CEO of OffTwo, a London-based service-oriented architecture company, said he saw no improvement in the local industry.
Tomlin, who has a reputation for delivering controversial presentations, said: "Since I was here [in SA] a year ago, I have seen no improvement in telecommunications infrastructure. It is highly disappointing and it will weigh against the country if it tries to move into the offshore outsourcing arena."
He was addressing the Beyond the Bleeding Edge IT conference, which aims to address management and IT issues facing South African businesses.
"If there is no sense of urgency, the opportunities will just go by and SA will be left out of the outsourcing arena," Tomlin said as he criticised the lack of real progress in liberalising the telecoms arena.
"The cost of connecting to the Internet is outrageous and the connections are not very good either. International business people who are expected to remain connected to their offices no matter where they are, are not able to do this effectively from SA," Tomlin said.
Lynnette Ferrara, another of the conference speakers and a researcher for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), said: "My telecommunications bill has been five time higher than my hotel costs since I have been here. Telecommunications access has to be a lot cheaper."
These comments struck a chord with the South African delegates after several presentations about the business efficiencies and possibilities presented by cheap telecommunications in a deregulated environment. These speakers included Bill Koff, CSC Leading Edge Forum VP, and Dough Neal, a fellow at CSC`s Research and Advisory Services.
Neal said during his presentation that US households now have reasonable access to 30MB Internet connection lines. "This makes sense for people to work from home. Who knows a company with that kind of connectivity?"
As Tomlin`s presentation progressed, the flood of complaints from the South African delegates increased, especially after they heard him speak about the Canadian voice over Internet Protocol (IP) service Vonage.
"For a $39 [R240] monthly subscription, I get five IP telephone numbers and I can dial anywhere in Canada and the US for no additional charge, and calls to Europe cost 1c per minute," he said.
One of the South African delegates complained: "We [as industry] have been discussing this kind of liberalisation and competition for 15 years. The discussions started long before the 1994 elections and we are no further down the road. Industry is getting tired of the discussions and no implementation."
Another local delegate agreed: "On the government Web sites I see all sorts of great and sound plans, but there is no implementation."
Conference chairman John Thompson concluded the conference by saying: "We have heard the overseas people bitch, followed by the South Africans bitching... Ultimately it is time for business to really engage in government about this otherwise it will be to the overall detriment of the country."
As a spin-off, the event also raises money for a charitable cause. This year it will help fund the building of a library in Masiphumele township south of Cape Town.
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