Telecommunications companies have expressed cautious optimism about the prospects of doing business with the Second National Operator (SNO) saying they welcome Telkom's competitor, but pricing remains important.
The SNO received its licence from the Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) today, some three years after it was supposed to, and many worry that it is entering a market that has changed radically from when it was first envisaged.
Jay Naidoo, chairman of Jay & Jay Group, which has a relationship with Indian group Tata, whose VNSL subsidiary has a 26% stake in the SNo, welcomes the licensing of the SNO, but is disappointed that it took so long. Naidoo was minister of communications in the late 1990s.
"We are disappointed that the process took so long. It does represent an opportunity lost to the country as a whole because the market was very different when the SNO was first envisaged. However, I believe it will bring good competition and choice to the country," he says.
Dave Gale, a director at telecommunications utility Storm, says: "We would want to test the offerings that they've got, but we would not leap before we look. We'd want to see what pricing and quality is like."
Gale says SNO is already on the back foot as those three years are lost opportunity. "I'd be shocked if they hit the ground running," he says.
He went on to say the SNO is entering a different market to the one they prepared for. The mobile market has been stealing market share from Telkom and the SNO's equipment has been gathering dust and the fibres have been exposed to sunlight.
Jonathan Newman, advisor to the CEO of cellular network operator Cell C says his company will definitely consider using the SNO for at least some of its transmission requirement, but a lot would depend on the quality of service and costs.
"While we are self-providing some of our transmission, we are optimistic that an additional competitor in this space could help to lower costs," he says.
Internet Solutions' CEO Angus MacRobert has gone on record saying that he would definitely consider moving much of his company's business to the SNO following a number of acrimonious court cases against Telkom.
MacRobert has said that he expects the SNO to start offering services as soon as March, although the SNO has since indicated that it would take between six and nine months after receiving the license to start operating.
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