South Africa's home-grown community payphone, the Siemens Sigi Pro, has a sleek high- tech look for the new millennium.
The Sigi Pro (Siemens GSM Interface) is a prepaid telephone service that works by integrating payphone and GSM technology. The product enables companies and entrepreneurs to establish immediate communication channels via the GSM network without having to wait for installation of fixed lines.
The Sigi was developed by Psitek for Siemens Telecommunications in 1994 for deployment in Vodacom phone shops around the country. The Sigi Pro can be used in rural communities as a community payphone, such as in Vodacom phone shops or telecentres.
The latest version of the Sigi Pro was introduced in mid 1998. The phone offers the unique integration of voice, data and fax facilities and is equipped with a metering unit for billing purposes. A standard fax machine, as well as a PC, can also be connected to the control unit allowing access to Internet and e-mail.
In addition, the new-look Sigi Pro now has a more durable keypad and a lens-effect has been added to the metre display to make it more readable. It is also future-proof, because it has been designed to handle both the 900 and 1800 bandwidths.
Paul McKibbin of Siemens Telecommunications says: "There is a huge demand for the Sigi Pro out in the field. In May 1994, 500 phones were deployed, and by April 1999 this figure had grown to 11 000, with over 1 200 phone shops and more than 650 operators.
In the month of April 1999 there was a total of 12 million calls made from the phone shops", which gives an indication of the difference this sophisticated technology is making to the lives of may ordinary South Africans."
Orders for 10 500 Sigi Pro's have been placed by Vodacom since mid 1998. Psitek will start manufacture of the new look Sigi Pro this year, which will gradually replace the previous Sigi versions in the field.
McKibbin says that interest for the Sigi Pro extends beyond South Africa's borders.
"The phone has been deployed in Uganda, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Internationally, the product has attracted attention at the recent GSM World Congress in Cannes, by the Gulf States and Eastern European countries in particular", he concludes.
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