Telecommunications liberalisation will be a boon for the blossoming call centre industry, says Luke Mills, director of CallingtheCape.
Mills says the recent announcement by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, which effectively allows the use of voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), will help lower the costs of investing in call centres in this country.
"We have lobbied government for some time about lifting the ban on VOIP technology as it will help lower the initial investment cost, increase the number of jobs in the sector and attract more investors to the Western Cape," he says.
Development of call centres has been identified as a major economic growth area for the Western Cape. The province is battling rising unemployment caused by the restructuring of the agricultural sector, the seasonal vagaries of the tourist industry, the demise of the textile industry and the lack of natural resources.
CallingtheCape said recently that more than 1 000 new jobs would be created by year-end in the call centre industry as companies from Holland, the UK and Germany had set up centres in the Western Cape. Factors such as a highly skilled workforce, a sophisticated financial services industry, and time and cultural similarities have been part of the attraction.
"However, the dominance by one telecommunications player has limited choice for investors and now that this has been lifted, there will be an added attraction," Mills says.
He says every company has its own telephony strategy but a typical instance of using VOIP technology would mean that a call centre could use the option of not investing in its own switch and rather opt for a "soft switch system".
"When India lifted its telecommunications restrictions, the outsourcing market really took off there and we expect to see the same here. The market is buzzing with excitement."
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