Telkom vs Sentech in satellite Internet war

By Rodney Weidemann for Telkom
Johannesburg, 08 Oct 2003

Telkom and Sentech appear set to go head-to-head in the broadband Internet access via satellite market, following the parastatal`s launch of its SpaceStream Express (SSE) and SpaceStream Office (SSO) products.

SSE is designed to offer always-available two-way Internet access through a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite link, while SSO has the same offering, bundled with telephone and fax services.

According to Telkom`s chief sales and marketing officer, Nombulelo Moholi, the company specifically chose to launch its new products this week, as it is International Space Week, "which makes it the ideal time to release our new satellite products".

"Our focus is on providing a service that is available anywhere in the country, with flexible access speeds and good security. In particular, we hope to deliver Internet access to those rural areas that do not have any terrestrial access," says Moholi.

"The service is designed to meet the needs of commercial farmers, co-operatives, holiday resorts, game farms and reserves, mines and other unserviced areas, including those that fall outside the ADSL footprint, that require Internet access."

Upgrade option

The SSE products comprise four packages, offering speeds from 64kbps to 512kbps, dependent on the users` needs, while SSO converges voice and fax with Internet access, although the speed is limited to 64kbps.

The monthly cost of the SSE products ranges from R998 for a 64kbps speed to R3 019 for the 512kbps. Telkom has also instituted a volume cap - as it did with its ADSL service - of 500MB for 64kbps, 1GB for 128kbps, 2GB for 256kbps and 3GB for 512kbps.

"The beauty is that users can seamlessly upgrade to the next product level, as and when their needs require it," says Telkom`s Royden Dall.

"The service is intended for periodic use of e-mail, newsgroups, file transfers, Internet chat, instant messaging and Web-browsing. It is not suited for extensive virtual private network (VPN) usage, video and voice over IP, remote access, gaming, or high volume sending."

He says the reason the bandwidth cap was put in place is to discourage network gamers, who used up vast amounts of bandwidth, while ensuring that all other users received the best possible service.

Asked what Telkom felt about Sentech`s fairly similar offering, he says the SSE range offers the flexibility and ability to please practically all its customers, while it is really only its top of the range offering that will be in direct competition with Sentech.

Competition 'welcomed`

According to Maureen Mphatsoe, senior manager for external communications at Sentech, the company welcomes the competition, as it benefits consumers and stimulates the professional environment.

"We put a lot of research into what the customers want and need, which is why we decided not to have restrictions in terms of bandwidth, but rather to work on a connection rate of 50 users per pipe, which will ensure that all users get the bandwidth and quality they need.

"We are very confident that our approach to market - not restricting our customers or telling them what they can and can`t do - will serve us well and will address the need of our customers."

While Telkom`s service will currently be restricted to SA, Moholi says the parastatal is in discussions with southern African partners, in the hopes of extending the offering to neighbouring countries.

"I think there really is a huge market for this in SA, and in terms of the future, the southern African region as a whole. Satellite technology just lends itself so well to the region," says Moholi.