Satellite Internet access makes an impact

Imagine the pleasure of surfing the Net at an average rate of 25kbps or more - if your pocket can afford it. Yes, this is a reality in SA and no, it`s not currently provided by Telkom. How you may wonder? How does it work? What are the implications for consumers, businesses or even Telkom?

The first thing to note is that the average rate of access to the Internet enjoyed by any dial-up user does not have much to do with the speed of your modem. It has far more to do with network loading, and how many other users are sharing the available bandwidth at the Internet service provider`s (ISP) end. So a user with a 56kbps modem may only enjoy an average of 3kbps and some change, and this may go up and down depending on how many other users are sharing the available bandwidth at the time. Therefore 25kbps on average (albeit not a "committed information transfer rate" or CIR) is roughly eight times better than that received by the user of an ordinary dial-up service.

The satellite industry has moved more rapidly into the provision of multimedia services through the introduction of high speed Internet access return paths. The access path to the Internet uses the infrastructure of Telkom`s access network while the return path is broadcast via satellite. Upwards of 25kbps is offered as the return path bandwidth.

We may not appreciate it but satellite Internet access has opened up a whole new range of potential services that can be delivered by satellite.

We do not send as much information as we receive when we surf the Net or download files. Our bandwidth requirement to send is low, as all we are sending is a message to access a Web page or to initiate the downloading of a file. Our Internet return path is where we experience the frustration. Speak to your friends who surf the Net and you most likely find that their biggest gripe is how slow the Internet is.

Satellite Internet access solves that problem by broadcasting your requested content directly to your PC. All you require is a satellite dish and a card plugged into your PC.

We may not appreciate it but satellite Internet access has opened up a whole new range of potential services that can be delivered by satellite. Why? Because it offers large return path bandwidth to your PC. The use of satellite in Internet access heralds the coming convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting.

A key barrier to the use of telecommunications infrastructure to deliver multimedia is the ability of the network to deliver sufficient bandwidth to support multimedia applications. While this is not a problem for most larger businesses, which can afford a leased line facility, it certainly is for the consumer market. In general, consumers cannot afford to lease data lines from Telkom to provide large bandwidth access to their local ISP.

Is telecommunications and broadcasting converging? Yes. Already we see the use of the cellular infrastructure as a signal distribution platform. For example, Vodacom offers the subscriber the ability to listen to SABC news updates by dialling into a voice news server.

Certainly the roll-out of satellite Internet access must challenge Telkom`s data services. Simplistically speaking, businesses that require a data broadcast type of application can now consider a Telkom service or a service provided by one of the satellite Internet access providers.

Until Telkom deploys DSL technology in the local access network, consumers will predominately rely upon their 56kbps analogue modem. The future battle for high speed Internet access in the consumer market will take place between satellite technology and DSL technologies. Satellite is already here with DSL technology deployment about two years away (my guess).

I firmly believe Telkom is already experiencing extensive competition despite its exclusivity period. The competition is taking place in the access network. Already we see some fixed line service substitution by cellular telephony, now we are seeing basic Internet access competition occurring.

This shows how difficult it is to regulate an industry where technology deployment and innovation is the way of life. When the Telecommunications Act was passed in 1996, I don`t think anybody envisaged the degree of technology-enabled competition that Telkom is experiencing.

As always, I value your feedback, so please e-mail me at andre@bmi-t.co.za.