Vendors are scrambling to position themselves to take advantage of a fast developing new market - the provision of broadband services to gated communities.
Vodacom is capitalising on the trend and has just bought a controlling 75% stake in Internet Solution's Gated Services (ISGS), with the remaining 25% to be held by founding members.
"Connected gated communities and office parks are key markets offering great growth potential, which forms an integral part of the overall growth strategy of Vodacom SA," says Vodacom Ventures executive director Tlhabeli Ralebitso.
Ralebitso confirms that Vodacom Gated Services aims to "deliver broadband Internet access, e-mail hosting services, fixed-line telephony and virtual PBX solutions, and intercom, CCTV and access control security services, as well as access to DStv to gated communities, residential estates and commercial developments."
"Many residents work from home either a few days a week or permanently and reliable communications services are essential to them," says YSL CEO Louis Yssel. YSL is another gated community solutions provider that has seen opportunity in the residential market after finding its feet in office parks.
Analysts say demand, more competitive pricing and a better understanding of technologies such as voice-over-Internet Protocol are driving the residential market.
Frost & Sullivan analyst Lindsay Mc Donald says "gated communities and corporate campuses offer technology and service providers a great opportunity", to which the IDC's Richard Hurst adds that the notion of wiring or delivering services to gated communities has long been on the radar of various services providers.
"The wiring of residential communities with a fibre to the home type of environment opens up other possibilities beyond mere voice and data communication to the provision of entertainment content such as movies or even security applications," he says.
Africa Analysis Team researcher Dobek Pater says many people now consider broadband an essential service, causing developers to consider it in their infrastructure plans when building gated complexes.
He adds many existing cluster complexes are retrofitting.
Pater, Mc Donald and Hurst say complexes have a number of technological options, ranging from plain fibre to WiFi to powerline communications. "In-building power lines work quite well," Pater says.
"The bottleneck can be the backhaul line to a telco and sufficiently large capacity must be provided for a large estate, for example multiple ADSL lines or a high-capacity leased line," Pater cautions.
Michalson's ICT lawyer Mike Silber and World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck say there are no legal obstacles if such a scheme is implemented within a single property or "campus".
"Provided this is a local area network (LAN) then it is licence exempt in terms of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA)," says Silber. However, the service provider will need to apply for that exemption in terms of the process regulations promulgated by the Independent Communications Authority of SA."
But the ECA does not allow suburbs to do the same. "It's the old story of the signal crossing the road: if it is a private road within a campus or complex, the signal is allowed to reach the other side. If it is a public road, the signal is Telkom road kill," says Goldstuck.
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