The second national operator (SNO) is ready to begin offering international wholesale services at the end of this month.
The operator initially stated it would offer wholesale telecommunications services to other telecoms operators by mid-year. Enterprise services are scheduled for year-end.
Market commentators say the operator - which was initially conceptualised in 2001 - has missed the boat. One analyst, who asked not to be named, says the market expected the SNO to have rolled out its wholesale offerings in the second quarter of this year.
He says repeated pushing back of the launch date has turned telecoms liberalisation in SA into a "farce".
"Their window of opportunity has closed," he says.
Telkom, however, has expressed concern that government, which accounts for about 9% of its fixed-line revenue, may move its business to the new contender.
However, Gartner principal analyst in the area of carrier operations and strategies Bill Hahn, welcomed the SNO's talk of launching wholesale services soon. He says an empowered and independent competitor to Telkom would benefit the market.
Assuming its independence, "the SNO would have powerful capabilities in its hands to bring useful backbone and support services to SA's alternate providers, as well as end-user customers.
"Telkom would be under pressure to respond in both retail and wholesale arenas; mobile carriers and value-added network providers could begin to seek partnerships towards the full portfolio of communications services on competitive terms, and the consumer and enterprise sectors would shortly see the benefits," he says.
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