Telkom, one of the most aggressive WiFi retail service providers (SPs), now wants to contest the wholesale market, delegates heard at the Hotspot 2004 conference in Bryanston yesterday.
The telco has equipped and branded 60 locations with its T-Zone hotspot offering. It wants 100 by July, when T-Zones will become a full commercial offering. Meanwhile, it wants to extend the markets it plays in.
Steven White, Telkom executive of new product development, says Telkom is best placed to offer access infrastructure cost-effectively and quickly.
This means SPs, who used to rent a line from Telkom at a higher cost than Telkom buys it, will now enter a ready-made WiFi site, equipped by Telkom with access point and bandwidth to a broadband server.
The SP (examples are location owners or networks) effectively resells bandwidth to consumers, who wirelessly connect via a Telkom access point to the company`s backend network.
Not obliged
White says in terms of the Independent Communications Authority of SA`s ruling on hotspots last year, Telkom does not enjoy a monopoly in terms of hotspot provision. "This means we don`t have to provide infrastructure to any SP that asks for it," he says.
Ant Brooks, co-chairman of the regulatory sub-committee of the ISP Association, says Telkom`s strategic announcement is not surprising. "It mirrors their strategy in other areas of the market."
Russell Dreisenstock, GM of M-Web Home, says the move to wholesale is good in principle, but there are areas of possible conflict, which must be avoided. "As long as Telkom the infrastructure provider doesn`t give preferential pricing to Telkom Internet, versus other SPs, then Telkom`s venture into retail and wholesale is above board.
"There is also a branding issue - if the SP resells Telkom bandwidth, it will want to brand the hotspot."
White says branding can be done in a variety of ways, and he acknowledges the SP`s right to brand their hotspot.
Dreisenstock concedes that Telkom does not have to offer an access layer to anyone and everyone. "We have a choice to work with others such as Wireless-g, within the law. As long as there is sufficient bandwidth to provide a positive hotspot experience, we`re doing this right."
Share
