Cheaper telecoms 'on the way'

This is according to Iain Stevenson, the managing director of wireless solutions company Communication Solutions (Comsol).

Stevenson says once regulator Icasa issues new licences - as is anticipated will be the case this year - there will be greater competition leading to price reductions.

He is particularly excited about the wireless space, both in South Africa and the rest of Africa, given that this is far cheaper than traditional fixed-line technologies.

Spectrum is the issue

However, Stevenson concedes that spectrum - the network of frequencies over which wireless signals are transmitted, and a scare resource - is an issue in South Africa.

Only government and quasi-government institutions have access to spectrum at this stage (although iBurst is one exception, and Altech has a test WiMax licence). Others have to operate in the unlicensed bands, which are naturally crowded.

Icasa is reviewing spectrum allocation, however, and Stevenson says he's optimistic that given the pressure from industry to broaden access, something's got to give on this front.

"The South African industry is craving bandwidth. Its been limited for too long," says Stevenson.

Working on wireless

Up Africa, spectrum and licenses are less of an issue, as most countries have more liberalised telecoms sectors, Stevenson says. Spectrum is, however, generally only given out in small portions.

Already, Comsol counts the likes of Dimension Data, its subsidiary Internet Solutions, Vox Telecom, the Gautrain, Business Connexion, GijimaAst, a number of the metropolitan municipalities and gold miners like Harmony Gold among its client base.

Dimension Data SA chairperson Andile Ngcaba's Convergence Partners owns a 32% stake in Comsol. Convergence Partners is investing in Seacom, a project to lay an undersea cable up the east coast of Africa, and Stevenson says Comsol will work with its empowerment partners on the wireless access at all the landing points.

In one particularly exciting project, Comsol has - in partnership with Didata - rolled out a wireless network for the Nelson Mandela Metropole in the Eastern Cape, linking roughly 120 different business units including libraries, parks, traffic and water departments from Coega through to Uitenhage.

The dawn of the digital city

The network has three elements, a stable, high-speed backbone using microwave technologies, access infrastructure and a wi-fi component. Didata contracted Comsol to do the complete wireless framework of the network.

Stevenson explains that as part of a pilot project, it connected 30 traffic lights via wi-fi hotspots, and because the lights themselves require very little bandwidth, the excess capacity can be used to provide internet access. The metropole has numerous additional sites planned, and once this has been completed, there will be a wi-fi cloud covering the city, making if possible to provide cheap (or free) connectivity.

"Digital cities are not a myth in South Africa," says Stevenson.

It has also worked on projects for the Ethekwini, Buffalo City and Ouwerstrand (Betty's Bay / Hermanus) metropoles, among others (it rolled out a total of 16 metropolitan networks in the last year).

Building a backbone

For Harmony, Comsol has linked up its various shafts wirelessly and is also building a backbone between its mines from Randfontein to Welkom. He anticipates a significant amount of work to come out of the mining companies up Africa, as they increasingly look for cost effective, viable communication solutions.

Comsol, which has about 60, mostly technically skilled people, has annual turnover approaching R100m, and anticipates this it will grow exponentially this year. "The growth in this sector is going to be absolutely huge," says Stevenson.

- Fin24