2005 was a telecoms tornado

2005 will be remembered for the acceleration in changes to the Telecommunications Act, which is allowing a teeming service provider market to begin delivering to consumers clamouring for connectivity, says Andy Brauer, chief technology officer at Business Connexion.

"2005 is a year that I think of as the telecoms tornado - there have been a lot of significant moves, with the Convergence Bill being chief among these from a legislative point of view," he says.

It is unlikely that the Bill will be finalised by the end of this year so 2006 will bring with it the promise of resolution of this all important piece of legislation, he says.

The whirlwind of new options for end-users points to increasing competition as service providers vie for market share. "The extended last mile options for consumers and business alike, especially in the wireless arena, have been matched by the emergence of different strategies from service providers. As the traditional fixed line voice market erodes, so service providers have been working to generate revenue from new business divisions."

"This has also resulted in the hybrid service provider - traditional telcos are introducing wireless options, while mobile voice providers are striving to get into the data arena and VANs and Internet service providers add voice to remain competitive," says Brauer.

He anticipates virtual operators emerging from the maelstrom. They will in effect offer services on top of the networks owned by the principal licensed operators. "This is going to leave a challenge for local companies. In the face of rising globalisation, we will need to be a bit more `proudly South African` yet, think global as stiff competition will come from abroad."

With the explosive growth of devices using the Internet protocol, the necessity for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) will become increasingly important. "The growth of networks in this year has established a platform that potentially will not function under the current IPv4. The simple reason is that, with increased connectivity and handover requirements, there are just too many devices," Brauer explains.

Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), initially viewed as a protocol for use by telcos, has grown into the enterprise on a large scale. This development is noteworthy, says Brauer, as this is the foundation of the next-generation network. "With MPLS in place, the stage is set for additional value-added services as network traffic can be prioritised and managed far more effectively," says Brauer.

On the personal network scale, Bluetooth, which was mooted by some prominent analysts as a dead technology, has come into its own during this year

Looking into the new year, he says the necessity for an integrated chip to handle all the various emerging standards (such as Bluetooth, WiBro, WiMAX, WiFi, 3G and 4G) for wireless communication will also become a necessity. "We`re moving rapidly to an always connected environment. Within that environment, seamless handover to the best communication provider at hand will be a must - this is an issue that engineers are already addressing," he concludes.