South Africa is taking a lead role in the convergence of telecommunication and information technologies in Africa.
This is according to a recent Research and Markets report, which notes that the legalisation of VOIP telephony marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the country's telecoms landscape.
Billions of dollars are being invested in IP-based, next-generation networks that are capable of delivering converged services more efficiently, the firm says.
Telecos and ISPs are starting to deliver audio and video content over their networks, while, in turn, traditional electronic media carriers have discovered the potential of their infrastructure for telecommunications service delivery, it adds.
Companies covered in the report include Telkom, Neotel, Transtel, Eskom, SITA, MultiChoice, Goal Technology Solutions, Internet Solutions, MTN Business (Verizon Business, UUNet), MWeb, Vox Telecom, Storm Telecom, iBurst, Vodacom, Cell C, Sentech, Orbicom, SABC, MXit, Naspers, Media24, Standard Bank, First National Bank, Absa, Nedbank and Barclays Bank.
Bennie Langenhoven, managing executive at Tellumat Communication Solutions, says there are a number of factors contributing to the growth of the local convergence market.
“It started with deregulation. In the early days after deregulation, VOIP was presented by a number of players as a least cost routing offer to customers,” he explains.
He adds that the huge improvement in infrastructure, and the increased availability and reduced cost of bandwidth, have also played a major role in achieving the uptake of converged products.
Paul McKibbin, divisional MD of Carrier Networks at Jasco, concurs, saying deregulation and additional bandwidth, along with the uptake of cloud computing, is further blurring the lines between IT and telecommunications, and has resulted in many more players entering the market.
“The convergence of IT and communication technologies, such as telecommunications, broadcasting and even cloud-based services, has been enabled partly due to the vastly improved broadband infrastructure in the country,” he explains.
McKibbin adds that the deregulated environment, along with the landing of several undersea cables and improved internal infrastructure, has allowed service providers to piggyback off the cabling infrastructure to deliver a whole new range of services and technologies.
However, he points out that while deregulation has enabled the previously segmented environments of IT, telecommunications and broadcasting to meld into one, the South African environment is still waiting for the local loop to be unbundled.
“Opening up last mile connectivity fully is the first prize for the consumer and for new service providers. Local unbundling will not only enable consumers to access more bandwidth and better broadband, it will also enable smaller providers to deliver services to customers, driving a more competitive environment.”
Langenhoven also believes that the main driver for the reduction of telecoms costs in SA is healthy competition, due to the improvement in availability of bandwidth, as well as the reduction in cost. “Companies today have a choice in terms of both data as well as voice connectivity.”
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