Telkom does it again?

Telkom has announced that from next month, customers will be able to send and receive short messages (SMSes) from their landlines.

At first glance this may appear revolutionary, but as a Vodacom subscriber I have been able to send messages through the Talking SMS service since early 2002. Although this service is to continue, it is still available only in English.

Granted, Telkom`s new service will allow users to send messages as well as receive them, but that will require an SMS-capable telephone with a display screen. Of course, such phones will come with a price tag attached.

The cost implications of adopting the new service don`t stop with the once-off phone cost either. Customers wanting the SMS service will also need to subscribe to Telkom`s IdentiCall service so voice calls can be distinguished from incoming text messages.

One can`t help wondering whether the SMS phones could not have been designed in such a way that incoming call recognition was built into the phone, thereby making it part of the once‑off phone cost instead of a recurring cost in the form of a subscription fee.

If we discount the cost of entry, at least customers will be able to benefit from a mature technology that has been proven to work overseas, right?

Well, not quite. Having been pioneered by Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia, the technology is certainly mature, but in SA there will be certain limitations.

Initially, the service will be available only to mobile users who subscribe to Vodacom. According to Telkom`s new product development executive, Steven White, Telkom expects to sort out the technical difficulties with Cell C "very soon". However, MTN is "still thinking the offer through".

What`s the point of being behind the rest of the world in adopting technologies if there are still technical difficulties experienced during implementation? Wouldn`t it have been better to have ironed out all technical difficulties before bringing the offering to market?

Is it only me, or is this strangely reminiscent of Telkom`s infamously capped ADSL offering?

Warwick Ashford, technology editor, ITWeb

The limitations don`t stop with the networks either. The service also excludes international SMSes and premium-rated SMSes, and can handle a maximum of 160 characters.

Is it only me, or is this strangely reminiscent of Telkom`s infamously capped ADSL offering? Is Telkom simply doing it again: offering watered down mature technology with maximum earning potential, knowing consumers have no alternative?

Despite the limitations, Telkom is confident this service will be successful, and it may well be right. Although 3G is on the horizon, the fact remains that the SMS and SMS-based services culture is very strong in the local market.

Telkom is betting on attractive pricing to take away some of the SMS market from the mobile space. It is even offering the service for free until the end of February 2005.

As always, only time will tell if Telkom has made a huge miscalculation or whether it`s simply getting real about the need in the market for a bridging technology.

SMS is an important part of everyday life for many people, and this new service may succeed in finally drawing into the SMS era and culture all those who have either resisted making the move to mobile telephony or have been unable to do so.

There are also those who have mobile phones, but don`t always have them on. I have often resorted to the Talking SMS option in the past to reach my parents who are not reliably at the other end of their mobile connection.

Telkom suggests the service will be attractive as a lower cost alternative to high volume SMS users such as teenagers, but one could also make the case for other groupings, such as those who are hearing impaired.

So, who knows? This relatively innovative service that requires new hardware and additional service subscriptions, has limited network connectivity, excludes certain SMSes and is limited to a certain number of characters, may succeed as an enabling and bridging technology.