Telecoms survey results head to president

By Siyabonga Africa for Cisco

Johannesburg, 27 Oct 2008

The results of a state-wide Internet access survey will be delivered to the presidency after the Cisco networkers' conference, Cisco Live!, which will be held next month.

World Wide Worx director Arthur Goldstuck says the survey will include the views of value-added network service providers (VANS) and Internet service providers (ISPs) on Internet access in SA.

“We are currently interviewing several hundred ISPs and VANS on their views on the telecommunications industry and also on what expectations will be for future regulations. The presidency requested a report on the findings of the survey.”

Goldstuck is adamant the Department of Communications' policy of managed liberalisation in telecoms has been damaging to the industry. “It has been pure folly so far.”

Lack of competition

Earlier this month, the Competition Commission released its annual report, which stated the local telecoms industry is characterised by high prices and a lack of competition. The commission says it has 11 complaints before it concerning telecoms.

Competition Commission head of telecoms and business services Avish Kalicharan says the industry needs to be regulated more vigorously.

“A number of the complaints we receive are regulatory matters and if the Independent Communications Authority of SA were to monitor this, then most of the issues will fall away,” Kalicharan says.

The Internet lag

IDC analyst Richard Hurst says VANS will be unanimous in their opinion that SA is lagging in certain aspects of the telecoms space. “We are not achieving the same levels of market traction in terms of Internet and broadband uptake that we are seeing in other states such as North Africa,” he says.

Hurst adds that in this respect, any positive reaction from the government concerning the need to drive Internet penetration in SA is certain to be welcomed across the sector.

BMI-TechKnowledge maintains bandwidth prices will fall with the arrival of fibre-optic cables in major metropolitans and also when the undersea cables land, starting with Seacom early next year.