Charge of the light brigade

After Allied Technologies (Altech) beat the late communications minister in the bloody “Battle for Self-Provision”, many in the industry kept a close eye on what the company's future would entail.

I am pretty sure I was not the only one who felt a little disappointed that the company bought into a small ISP, rather than making a move for one of the MWebs of this world.

Having been the champion of the telecoms companies' fight to compete, I expected Altech to turn to the consumer fight, and its latest acquisition, Technology Concepts (TC), seemed too small to make that much of an impact.

But, new-age global wars are not being won by the dominant tanks and crushing front lines, they are being taken by small guerrilla factions with innovative ideas - and TC may well be one of those.

Granted, the company is not quite as small as I had initially imagined, and Altech does add some clout to the mix. Ultimately, though, it's not its size, but its ingenuity, that will make the company stand out in a crowd.

Having interviewed the company, I discovered it had been hard at work, even before it got the backing of a new parent. One example of its innovation has been its line-bonding technology, which essentially combines four ADSL lines and makes it look like a single connection - super fast.

Of course, this fancy technology is currently only priced for the business market - although the company assures me it is working on a consumer offering.

The thing about businesses like TC is that they don't have the massive load to haul that the incumbents are carrying. They are agile and nimble - something like the incumbents were back in the day. They have little baggage and no set path - except survival, innovation, and hopefully, success.

Growing up in an industry dominated by companies hogging essential services like international capacity and interconnection rates, the company has been forced to innovate. And, while others are losing customers, TC can only grow.

The thing is, the incumbents can now expect to be hit from all sides. TC is by no means the only guerrilla faction making its mark on the telecoms field of battle. There are now 400 companies licensed to march into battle.

Growing up in an industry dominated by companies hogging essential services like international capacity and interconnection rates, the company [Technology Concepts] has been forced to innovate.

Candice Jones, ITWeb telecoms editor

While most will be taken out in the first charge, there are some companies that are consolidating their arsenal and will make a mark where it's least expected. Some of the more well-known companies, now turning to converged technologies, are pulling out their big guns.

Take Internet Solutions. The company has been quietly building a set of products that will take advantage of the newly lit-up Seacom undersea cable. It has bolstered its international WiFi hotspot access and made some compelling offerings in the local hotspot market - where it already dominates.

More than that, the company has put together voice products that can't be sneered at.

Adding to this, it would have been nice to say that I had seen MWeb making its move to corner a part of the market - and maybe it is; only with more quiet patience than I have noticed. I suspect that MWeb's move will only come when the Independent Communications Authority of SA's WiMax beauty contest gets under way.

While I live in hope that the underdog will take the field by storm, Will Hahn, Gartner's telecoms expert, tells me I am giving far more credit to their possible success than is warranted. While he agrees these companies have the opportunity to be great - they will still be the customers of the incumbents.

But the ECNS licence that Altech fought so hard for is, for me, the ideal opportunity for these companies to turn away the custodianship of the big players and make a winning solution for themselves - after all, even Telkom had to start somewhere.

Battling hard times and a dominated market has been the ideal boot camp for the new players - it's precisely that training that will make them the incumbents of tomorrow.