SA has been waiting for months in anticipation of the changes in the telecommunication landscape promised by the Electronic Communications (EC) Act and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) Amendment Act.
With no fixed date set for the promulgation of these Acts, all the nation could do was wait. This week, however, the wait was suddenly over, but nothing has changed. Well, not yet anyway. There is more waiting ahead, it would seem. No promised tenfold cost reductions this year.
Is SA doomed to be a nation in waiting forever?
After months of waiting for the Acts to become a reality, deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie now says his department will have to finalise internal discussions before any announcements can be made about a broadband policy framework.
The best part is that members of the Department of Communications have given themselves six months to wrap up those discussions. In other words, at least another half a year will go by before any announcements around the future of broadband.
Who knows how long it will take after that for the department to actually do anything?
Technology moves faster
Fortunately, technology typically moves faster than government and where there`s a will, there`s apparently a way when it comes to VOIP.
Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor
Fortunately, technology typically moves faster than government and where there`s a will, there`s apparently a way when it comes to voice over IP (VOIP). It`s even legal, says Business Connexion`s communications head Willem van Rensburg.
It turns out that the EC Act is unimportant as far as VOIP is concerned and there is really no need for business to wait any longer before reaping the benefits of the technology.
So what is local business waiting for?
According to Van Rensburg, the only real hurdle to VOIP in SA is not technological, but organisational.
Typically, organisations` voice communications are not managed centrally. Instead each separate department tends to do its own thing.
The result is there is no single strategy or policy for voice communications and no involvement of the IT department. VOIP, on the other hand, requires a co-ordinated effort across an organisation, including IT.
Next-generation network
While the next-generation network (NGN) technology exists to enable organisations to reduce call costs under current conditions by switching to VOIP without ripping out existing infrastructure, there is no one in most organisations to make the decision or drive the change.
Van Rensburg says even though VOIP solutions are relatively simple, inexpensive and quick to show a return on investment, few organisations have a single person or group that solution providers can engage about the business benefits of VOIP.
Adoption of the technology is consequently limited and slow.
Doomed to wait at least another six months before government even announces what it plans to do about the future of broadband, business would be best advised to begin restructuring now.
By getting real about the communication opportunities created by existing NGN technology, organisations need wait no longer to begin asserting their independence from Telkom. The technology is there to help those companies that help themselves.
All it will take is a little co-operation, internal reorganisation, consolidation, and a few media gateway devices to merge existing infrastructures. Simple, really - assuming company politics doesn`t get in the way.
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