Ordinary South Africans are paying inflated fixed-line rates and Telkom subscribers are obliged to subsidise the "inefficient" fixed-line monopoly, Cape Town-based SAC Technologies says.
In a statement issued this week, SAC urged South Africans to take up the challenge to harness the advantages offered by alternative technologies.
However, SAC Technologies MD Roger B"ohmert admits that the likelihood of most South Africans migrating to VOIP is slim, as high costs and restricted bandwidth inhibit access to this technology.
"Telephone subscribers should do some honest introspection and ask themselves why South Africans are required to pay up to 1 292% more for telephone calls compared to what users in the US or Europe pay," says B"ohmert.
A viable alternative to cut costs is to make phone calls via the Internet, where rates are substantially lower than traditional telephone companies, he says, adding that VOIP allows users to make phone calls over a computer network, provided they have broadband connection.
But B"ohmert tells ITWeb that local bandwidth limitations and high costs associated with Internet telephony have held back development in this area.
"VOIP has gotten off to a slow start in SA, and there are about 67 000 VOIP users in the country at the moment," he points out, adding that there are not enough service providers to create competition within the VOIP arena.
"And 67 000 users seems an unlikely business proposition to attract new service providers to SA. I just don't see the prospects for broadband here."
B"ohmert contrasts this with the situation in the US, where, he claims, between 140 and 160 new service providers cater for VOIP users, while more are springing up on a weekly basis.
"SA urgently needs to step up its involvement in telecommunication technology if it wants to benefit from global markets and trends. Yet, with the total inability and lack of urgency on the part of our authorities to take action in granting a second, third or even fourth network supplier to operate in SA, we run the risk of remaining a Third World country forever, with little or no prospect of development," B"ohmert argues.
Greg Massel, co-chairman of the Internet Service Providers' Association, disagrees with B"ohmert, saying that the prospects for VOIP in SA are relatively good.
"While the use of Internet telephony is currently limited, especially among individual end users, costs are coming down, and VOIP use in business has spread widely, so there is scope for growth."
Massel also disputes that the figure of 67 000 South African VOIP users is low, saying that this indicates healthy growth since the countries telecommunications sector was liberalised only in February.
"I expect local bandwidth costs to come down. The cost of ADSL has already been reduced and rates could fall further, mainly due to public pressure," he comments.
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