The public and business can be forgiven if they are confused about the legality of call-back services, especially since the recent announcement by Pinnacle Technology that ICASA has licensed its technology, a claim that has since been denied by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
Orion Telecom introduced call-back to SA in 1996 - the service then known as Ursus - resulting in a legal skirmish which fizzled out and has not resurfaced for over five years.
The regulatory authority, then known as SATRA, made a claim that call-back was illegal, but the ruling was nullified almost immediately when the South African Call Back Association (SACBA) had this claim reversed. SATRA had neither powers nor intentions to prosecute and would only uphold the decision of the courts. However, no case has been brought and no case is pending. The matter of call-back legality therefore is, in the opinion of the call-back practitioners, a cut and dried issue where the service cannot be deemed illegal.
It must also be noted that call-back operators do not contravene any South African legislation, including the Post Office Act and the Telecommunications Act. On the basis of this, no South African legislation is applicable to companies operating outside of the country`s borders and the operators within SA are effectively marketing agents for such call-back services.
According to Orion Sales and Marketing Director, Jacques du Toit: "Orion supports any business trying to offer options to South African corporates and this is still the cornerstone of our business. At the end of the day any telephony service to local companies, which emanates from outside the borders of SA will have to use some portion of Telkom`s network, no matter what technology is used. Recent announcements in the media seem to suggest otherwise which is misleading and needs to be put in perspective."
Orion`s legal advisors, who spearheaded the recent landmark ruling whereby cellular least-cost routing was deemed legal in the high court, are agreed that call-back cannot be illegal in terms of South African legal statutes. This ruling by Mr Justice De Villiers fortifies the position of business where he held that it is not illegal for a user of telephony services to arrange its customer premises equipment in such a way as to exercise its choice in how it wishes to place its calls.
On top of that, SA is a co-signatory of the Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services, signed under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation in 1997 in terms of which the government has undertaken to abide by international standards and to specifically curtail any anti-competitive behaviour in respect of essential services for the outside market.
International calls amount to some 3% of total revenues for Telkom so the drop in its share price by some 5% can only be regarded as an over-reaction to the media reports on the announcement of the new service from Pinnacle which hopes to garner some 15% to 30% of this business. It appears that the market is hoping for some significant alternative to Telkom to just appear and start offering choices.
"No matter which way you cut this cake, any method of originating calls outside our borders amounts to the same thing - a service which undercuts Telkom international prices by enough to make it worthwhile for local business," says Du Toit. "Orion`s Intertel service has been running for eight years and now offers 50% savings to most popular destinations.
"Our method is tried and tested and is completely transparent to the person making the call - no SMS, no e-mail, no Web site, just pick up the phone and dial. We have learnt that any service that requires a special action or intervention of the user outside of the normal practice, has never amounted to anything as people are driven by convenience these days - especially employees in a corporation," says Du Toit.
Orion fully expects that sending an SMS or e-mail or logging onto a Web site to get a dial-tone for an international call will have appeal for a small business or home user, but not for corporate users. Orion`s technology is completely transparent to the user who simply makes calls as usual. Simplicity and quick connections have been the driving force behind Orion`s service, known as `Intertel`.
Users of the SMS triggered call-back service will also have to pay for the cost of the SMS - a factor which Orion expects to militate against widespread adoption in top companies, contrary to the high hopes expressed in the media. Using a Web site to trigger the call-back is also expected to present more problems than it`s worth in many top companies where internet access is often severely curtailed.
How is it possible that one call-back service can be legal, yet all the others are illegal? "Call-back is call-back," according to Don Tredoux, MD of Orion. "The call is triggered somehow from SA, the international gateway dials back and then connects the originator to the required international number on a conference call basis. The cost to dial in is much cheaper than Telkom`s outgoing rates so savings are effected."
"Although a lot of discussion has taken place on the methods used to trigger the call-back, the real issue is the fact that the user of the service can get cheaper international calls than Telkom offers. We have tested various methods of initiating a call-back, including SMS, e-mail and Web site techniques, but have decided to remain with and improve upon our original service because it is completely transparent to the caller and simply works," says Tredoux.
With the evidence at hand, it is widely accepted that call-back is legal and is here to stay as long as savings can be extracted on international calls. If Telkom ever chooses to file an affidavit on the subject, it can expect a long and drawn out court battle along the lines of the recent cellular least-cost routing case which it lost (with costs). Now that the legal system has upheld the right for businesses to choose their telecommunications suppliers, the prospect of Telkom winning the case against the call-back industry seems remote.
Orion is a member of the South African Call Back Association and of the Independent Cellular Service Provider`s Association. It supports any efforts by any company to find different ways of achieving cost savings for business as it can only be good for the industry.
"Offering choices in telecommunications is our real business," says Du Toit. "The consumer has a right to choose services that save money or add value or both, and we will continue to pioneer and develop products in this space. Its easy to use all the new technologies but not easy to keep them simple and transparent. That`s where we focus and is the reason for our significant penetration in top corporates in SA."
Share
Editorial contacts