LayerOne, an Internet Solutions subsidiary and HSDPA solutions provider, recently launched a 'VPN' HSDPA offering, which allows companies and their users to securely connect to their network for accessing e-mail, network applications, file servers etc, without needing to build a corporate APN or risking giving users access to the general Internet.
Most of the service providers in South Africa have limited HSDPA offerings, which include Internet data bundles and APN solutions.
The Internet data bundles, which are convenient and fast to deploy, come with the risk that companies' users can connect to the Internet, which not only exposes the company to risk of viruses etc, but also a risk of high costs for downloading unnecessary Internet content.
The APN infrastructure is basically the opposite, as it is difficult to install and not ideal to manage, and is only cost-effective when you have a large number of users, with the positive being that a company can stop users accessing the Internet and protect the company against harmful information.
LayerOne, however, have launched a new service which basically provides the best of both worlds. An Internet data bundle that is fast and easy to install and can be delivered in 48 hours, which will only support a VPN client connecting the user to the company's network, but will not support Internet browsing.
The service also provides the aggregation of an APN, but because the infrastructure is in place and completely managed, includes none of the pain.
Stuart Hardy, MD of LayerOne comments: "The new service, which has been live for a short time, has already enjoyed great success. We have had a growing demand for HSDPA solutions and have been very successful in the Internet data bundles, but some of our corporate clients wanted to reduce the risk of connecting to the Internet.
"We have achieved this by creating a service only supporting VPN clients based on SSL or IP Sec. A user gets a standard bundle from LayerOne or IS, connects to the network and can launch the VPN client at HSDPA speeds. It's fast, secure and managed. It also supports aggregation, which means that if one user does not use all his bandwidth, another user can use the surplus, reducing bundle costs substantially.
LayerOne does not sell directly to corporate companies, but instead provides solutions through its parent company, Internet Solutions, and a growing number of partners and resellers. They believe HSDPA is the fastest growing mobile technology in SA and the world, and any solutions provider not adding it to its range of services is missing out.
"LayerOne has a very good idea of what companies are looking for. As a result, we are the preferred choice for corporate companies. We admit that our market is not consumers, which are undermined by our next step, which is to remove the ability for our Internet data bundle users to download certain content from the Internet, like movies. Because we only supply to corporate companies and their users, this has been a welcomed initiative and will be implemented in the next few months," ends Hardy.
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