Subscribe

iBurst picks its spot

Candice Jones
By Candice Jones, ITWeb online telecoms editor
Johannesburg, 19 Apr 2010

Local Internet service provider iBurst hopes its new wireless wholesale business will be an industry game-changer.

The company has been on the back foot for the last few years, trying to find a differentiator in the market. However, new CEO Jannie van Zyl says the company has been working on the strategy it set for itself a year ago, and the wholesale business forms part of its market push.

According to Van Zyl, the company is focusing on three primary areas of attack to increase its market share. “We defined a three-pronged attack on the market. We are looking to increase our retail opportunities and we have put quite a lot of work into our business channel. Opening out networks to the wholesale market has been extremely successful.”

The company is one of the first businesses with wireless infrastructure to open up its networks for the wholesale market. “The wire-line solutions have almost always had this model, but not the wireless guys,” he explains.

Van Zyl says the offering has started taking off in the market, with iBurst signing on some of the larger service providers and other smaller players buying into the network. “There are people out there who can build really clever products, but don't have the network to supply them. Running over our network will give them the opportunity to get those ideas into the market.”

For iBurst, a wholesale offering is a winning solution. It already has a strong wireless network, which reaches some of the underserved areas, and placing traffic on those networks through other providers will give it the critical mass it needs to make money back on those investments.

The company has consistently played in a limbo market, with it not being compared to ADSL service providers, nor is it referred to in the 3G and GSM space. However, all wireless providers will be looking at the company's move with interest.

However, in the wholesale space, iBurst will compete directly with the mobile operators.

iBurst, along with the mobile operators, has an advantage in the battle for the last mile. The South African market has a good wireless last mile, since Telkom still owns the copper-based local loop. While there is some discussion around whether fibre will become the alternative local loop, wireless is more likely to pit the more expensive roll-out of optical technologies.

Van Zyl says iBurst's move to open up its wireless infrastructure will hopefully be a game-changer. “There will be pressure for the others [mobile operators] to follow suit,” he explains.

Share