Africa needs to seize opportunities presented by "triple play" (phone, broadband Internet and subscription TV) services in order to transform itself economically, says Wayne McDonald, GM of Gilat Southern Africa.
He was delivering a presentation on triple play over satellite networks and the value proposition that it offers to Africa at Satcom Africa 2006 in Sandton yesterday.
McDonald said Africa must go beyond the traditional market for triple play, which is high-end users, to consider how the technology can be used to meet basic needs in disadvantaged communities.
To see the relevance of triple play in Africa, one needs to look at the key challenges that face the continent, he noted. McDonald said triple play could be used to transform service delivery administration and provide resources and content for schools, clinics and post offices.
McDonald said there are two reasons Africa has not seen a prevalent use of triple play for development: regulations that protect incumbent telecoms operators and lack of infrastructure networks.
No incentives
He added that the main industry players have not had incentives to expand beyond the traditional market because of protective regulatory regimes. However, the regulatory environment is changing, creating a need for incumbent telecoms providers to be more competitive and see triple play service provisioning as a viable strategy to retain customers, he noted.
Examples of two telecoms providers that are already planning to meet the new challenges are Telkom in SA and Sonatel in Gambia, McDonald said. Both incumbent telecoms providers have declared their intention to provide triple play services, indicating a new trend as a result of the emerging competitive landscape.
Infrastructure challenges
McDonald noted that while regulations are changing, there are still infrastructure challenges in Africa. He added that triple play requires broadband networks - be they DSL or wireless - and these are lacking for the most part across sub-Saharan Africa.
Therefore, major investments would have to be made to provide this infrastructure and the most cost-effective way is by deploying wireless technology, he said.
McDonald urged delegates to capitalise on the strengths of technologies available for a cost-effective solution, and not solely rely on satellite as a platform.
"There is no one-size-fits-all" solution in network provisioning, he concluded.
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