Canopy to take advantage of deregulation

By Rodney Weidemann for Motorola

Johannesburg, 27 Jan 2005

While the telecoms deregulation promises to open up the market, it is likely traditional users, such as large corporates, will experience the majority of the benefits.

Motorola believes it can provide access to many traditionally underserviced areas through its Canopy system, which is a fixed wireless broadband solution that can overcome many of the obstacles associated with deploying high-speed access technologies in remote areas with no existing infrastructure.

"The high cost of deploying traditional access technologies, coupled with the complexity and time required to do so, has left many communities and smaller businesses underserved," says Nik Patel, business manager for Motorola`s Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector: Middle East and Africa.

"The remote location and lack of existing infrastructure has meant that many rural areas have not even had the opportunity to experience the information age, thus widening the gap between the information haves and have-nots."

He claims Canopy`s simple network design makes it easier and quicker to get up and running than most access systems and requires little infrastructure, making it ideal for providing access to remote areas - where the terrain is often inhospitable - as well as being cost-effective.

"The point-to-multipoint system offers aggregate data rates of up to 6Mbps, while the point-to-point system delivers 14Mbps and, in most cases, can be installed in less than 24 hours," he says.

"We have already seen the immense potential for e-learning through a pilot we conducted successfully with schools in Mamelodi, and we believe rural areas stand to benefit tremendously as there are no limitations to the possibilities for access."

Patel says Motorola hopes to see uptake from the value-added network services market with regards to Canopy, which is why the company has begun demonstrating the product just ahead of the deregulation date.

"We are confident the relaxing of existing telecommunications legislation will enable the true potential of Canopy to be realised," he says.

"Taking e-learning in a rural environment as an example, Canopy allows your top teachers to be where you need them most - you can effectively 'teleport` your teachers to whichever school in the region requires them."