Vox Telecom is on track for the commercial launch of a “low-cost satellite Internet broadband” service that will cover the greater part of SA, in June.
Having signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based satellite provider Yahsat in May 2010, Vox serves as its South African service partner and says it will commence with physical coverage tests of the broadband service after the launch of Yahsat's YahClick Y1B satellite on 21 February.
Vox Telecom product manager Jacques Visser says the Y1B satellite will cover the whole of the country, save for the North Western Cape. He believes satellite services will in future play an important role in providing the telecommunications infrastructure for rural and remote areas.
“Many South Africans still don't have access to reliable, affordable bandwidth. Despite the advent of many optic fibre cable networks now reaching South African shores, optic service will only roll out to high-density areas and it will take a long time, if ever, to reach the country side.”
He says YahClick will play a key role in communities and creating informed societies by bringing “cost-effective high-speed Internet to millions of people”. Visser adds there are many rural areas in SA that are not serviced, or are under-serviced, and suggests the satellite would provide such with connectivity. “It is also an excellent product for backup solutions in the metro areas, as it would not be influenced by cable down times, etc.”
Taut technology
Visser says satellite technology has changed. Until now, he notes, satellite Internet has been prohibitively expensive.
YahClick is based on Ka-band satellite technology, which makes use of spotted beams through which spectrum can be re-used.
Based on this technology, says Visser, YahClick will offer download speeds of up to 5Mbps and upload speeds of up to 3Mbps. “We have developed packages to suit a wide range of users, from the home user who just wants to download e-mail and browse the Web, to businesses who may need to transfer hundreds of GBs a day.”
A mid-range package offering 1Mbps download speed, 256Kbps upload speed and 200MB usage per day (approximately 6GB per month) will probably cost less than R500 a month, he adds. “This competes well with ADSL pricing if you take the cost of the fixed-line into consideration as well.”
Connecting communities
Visser says this technology will facilitate connectivity in many of SA's rural communities, including schools, farms and lodges that do not have access to broadband solutions. “Ka-band technology also allows us to use less expensive equipment for the customer premises (CPE) and Vox offers a rent option on the CPEs, which makes it more affordable.”
He says Vox plans to deploy VOIP and other services using the YahClick technology, but will need to carry out the necessary tests upon launch of the satellite before this comes to fruition.
According to Visser, following its commercial launch in June, the service will be sold to both consumers and corporates by subsidiaries of Vox. These include @lantic and Vox Telepreneur to consumers and SMEs, and Vox Datapro and Vox Orion to corporates.
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