Hosted PBX from Vox Orion // MyBroadband

Staff Writer | 12 January, 2011

Vox Orion has launched a hosted PBX service, Verto, which promises to bring all the benefits of hosted services to South Africa’s corporate telephony market

“Verto takes the traditional PBX out of the box and puts all that intelligence into the network,” says Vox Orion MD Jacques du Toit. “It’s based on robust and reliable commercial open source technology that’s already supporting more than 550,000 extensions.”

Du Toit says Verto is a natural progression of the Vox Telecom group’s strategy to become a complete alternative telecommunications provider.

“It’s a perfect fit with our Cristal Vox converged voice and data network, and our customers have responded with enthusiasm to this development of our managed services.”

Verto is particularly attractive, adds Du Toit, because of the low risk to the client. “Provided we have conducted a full LAN audit to ensure that the client’s network is voice-ready, we guarantee that if they are not happy with the quality of the service they can cancel at any time."

The basic Verto feature set for Level 1 users includes conference calling, call forwarding, call waiting, alerts, a ‘do not disturb’ setting, dial-by-name functionality, redials, return calls and pick up groups. Level 2 users also get access to voicemail, voicemail to email conversion, call recording, hunt and page groups, call screening and summary call histories.

Verto can also integrate easily with external applications including voice loggers, predictive diallers and telephone management systems.

“It combines all the functionality of a traditional PBX and an advanced IP telephony platform,” says Du Toit. “Verto is future-proof as the software is constantly being upgraded and developed to include new technology developments.”

Comms Cloud moving from concept to business reality

It is with great excitement that I watch our new telecoms concept, Comms Cloud Managed Infrastructure Services, move towards becoming a reality.

Next week sees our branding and corporate identity being unveiled to us for the first time and I have started pitching “next generation” ideas to customers that I have long standing relationships with.

What is fascinating for me is the endless opportunity for optimisation, technology upgrades and the resultant business benefits [savings included] that are on table for businesses today. Disruptive technologies rule!

Watch this space carefully; we are going to offer clients a viable and exciting new offering within the next few months.

Peter Walsh
Cape Town
January 2011

ICASA commits to local loop deadline

By Leigh-Ann Francis
Johannesburg, 6 Jan 2011

This is despite Telkom's warning that the deadline is unrealistic, given the regulatory challenges and lack of clarity holding back the process.

However, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) maintains the regulatory process for ensuring the LLU implementation will unfold during the course of 2011, through a full public consultation process, to iron out any “uncertainty”.

The last mile, or local loop, is the copper link between the end-user and Telkom's network, and is currently owned by Telkom.

The rationale behind LLU is to foster competition and reduce telecommunications costs by eliminating large investments by competitors to build their own infrastructure for last mile connectivity.

Telkom, a key player in the process, argues that a number of regulatory issues need to be clarified before the unbundling can get under way. However, ICASA says it is aware of the issues raised by the incumbent and remains confident of the November deadline.

Clarification

The operator's main concern lies in the lack of clarification as to whether the local loop can be considered an essential facility.

“Notwithstanding that the Electronic Communications (EC) Act includes local loops in the indicative list of potential essential facilities, it is arguable whether the local loop is indeed an essential facility,” argues the operator.

“Specifically, the EC Act states an essential facility 'cannot feasibly be substituted' and it is Telkom's contention that a wireless local loop these days is more than a substitute for both voice and broadband communications,” argues Telkom.

But ICASA says it is well aware of the ramifications around the definition of essential facilities vis-à-vis LLU and will address the issue in due course, in line with the set time frame.

“What, however, is critical, from the point of view of the authority, is to ensure access to the LLU is facilitated. In any event, the local loop, as a facility, is already legally obliged under chapter eight of the EC Act.”

Telkom also argued against the lack of clarification around how the authority would conduct and conclude a market review process for LLU. But ICASA explains it will explore the relevance to LLU of section 67 of the EC Act, in terms of significant market power and related numbers.

While ICASA has renewed its commitment to ironing out the necessary regulations before November, senior Frost & Sullivan analyst Vitalis Ozianyi remains sceptical of the actual implementation of the regulations this year.

Complicated process

Ozianyi maintains that, despite the issues raised by Telkom, it is possible the regulations concerning LLU will be in place this year still.

However, he questions whether the regulations will have the necessary clarification to begin the implementation of LLU this year.

ICASA councillor Thabo Makhakhe explains that, while the authority is committed to having resolved the regulatory issues, and the possible publication of LLU regulation before November, the actual unbundling process will take time.

Makhakhe would not indicate how long the implementation would take, but stated it is a complicated process. He pointed to the 10-year period it took British Telecom to unbundle its local loop.

Ozianyi argues that other LLU-related issues, such as the costs of leasing the local loop, as well as maintaining the infrastructure, will need to be addressed.

As such, Ozianyi explains that the implementation will be slow and incremental, with benefits being realised only in later years.

Local loop unbundling 'unlikely' in 2011

Local loop unbundling 'unlikely' in 2011
By Leigh-Ann Francis
Johannesburg, 5 Jan 2011

Industry's hopes that the local loop will be unbundled by November this year may be dashed, as fixed-line operator Telkom has already warned that regulatory and business hurdles make the deadline highly unlikely.

Late last year, communications minister Roy Padayachie committed to the November deadline, noting that local loop unbundling (LLU) remains a critical and important intervention.

The last mile, or local loop, is the copper link between the end-user and Telkom's network and is currently owned by Telkom.

The rationale behind LLU is to foster competition and reduce telecommunications costs by eliminating large investments by competitors to build their own infrastructure for last mile connectivity.

However, the process has been repeatedly delayed, after initially being mooted at least five years ago.

Regulatory hurdles

Telkom says it has embraced LLU and is working with both the Department of Communications, as well as the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) towards completing the process. However, the company argues that a number of regulatory issues need to be clarified before the process can get under way.

The operator believes a declaration of essential facilities must, by necessity, precede any potential local loop unbundling process.

“Notwithstanding that the Electronic Communications Act (EC Act) includes local loops in the indicative list of potential essential facilities, it is arguable whether the local loop is indeed an essential facility,” argues the operator.

“Specifically, the EC Act states an essential facility 'cannot feasibly be substituted' and it is Telkom's contention that a wireless local loop these days is more than a substitute for both voice and broadband communications.

“Even if local loops were indeed essential facilities, there are no provisions in the Act which stipulate the terms and conditions by which such facilities are to be unbundled,” Telkom continues.

Furthermore, argues Telkom, the process that would have to be followed to unbundle the local loop would be the market review process, as per Chapter 10 of the EC Act.

“To the degree that a local loop can provide one of three services, ie, voice, broadband and partial private circuits (half-leased lines), it is uncertain which market review ICASA would be required to use, since a remedy must not only relate to a market, however, further be confined to that market only,” explains Telkom.

“Even if, to be sure, all three market reviews were simultaneously undertaken, the list of pro-competitive remedies that may be imposed at the conclusion of a market review does not include unbundling of networks or facilities.”

Hence, there is much uncertainty on the regulatory process which should or could be followed to deliver local loop unbundling, presuming that a legitimate process exists in the first place, the operator maintains.

Comment from ICASA was not forthcoming at the time of publication.

Tight timelines

Secondly, having concluded the relevant regulatory process, Telkom will still need to undertake a product development process.

Telkom must determine the technical parameters of the service; the business rules and processes of the service; the prices of the service elements; the commercial and contractual conditions associated with the service; and the product relationships between local loop unbundling, facilities leasing and other network services.

The company explains that this process will take time, and given the number of variables both from a regulator perspective, as well as a business perspective, the operator does not believe the November deadline is realistic.


Too late

Meanwhile, industry believes it is already too late for LLU to make any real difference to competition in the industry.

Richard Hurst, senior analyst at Ovum, says local loop unbundling is a bit too late. “By the time it's done, it's not going to matter anymore. All the other operators will have rolled out their own infrastructure.”

Telcos are now in the process of connecting customers to their networks by technologies that cut out the last mile.

Neotel currently bypasses the copper infrastructure through wireless technology, and Vodacom has plans to eventually cut out the loop by running fibre directly to clients. In addition, Telkom is starting to eliminate the need for copper in its own network by putting in wireless connections.

Chris Gilmour, Absa Investments analyst, says ICASA has dragged its heels for so long that there is no real need to unbundle the last mile. He says copper will become a “deteriorating asset in the ground” and competitors will either role out fibre or wireless to connect.

2010: 10 key tech moments that are shaping our future | memeburn

Share By Uzair Parker
12.29.10

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on some of the key technologies that have influenced, inspired and dominated the mobile, web and software product markets this year:

1. The Rise of the Tablets

Announced in early January, Apple’s iPad was one of the most significant product launches this year: The world’s first fully functional tablet PC. Described as being revolutionary and magical, many early critics initially dismissed the device as nothing more than a larger version of the iPod Touch. Yet, it was anything but that.

The iPad set the standard for tablet devices with its sleek and glossy design, packing a powerful processor with access to Apple’s famed iTunes marketplace that had business owners scrambling to get their web product onto an iPad-friendly application format.

It is one mean piece of hardware and with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab sparking the Android vs Apple battle plus Rim’s Blackberry Playbook now entering the fray, it’s a clear indication that tablet PCs are here to stay.

2. Augmented Reality takes a bold leap

Augmented reality applications have really hit home this year by extending beyond the mobile sphere and into the console gaming environment with both Playstation and Microsoft taking the lead. Microsoft’s Kinect system for the XBox has redefined the gaming genre with its full body, controller-less motion, making augmented reality gaming a, well, reality within your living room. And the EyePet for the Playstation 3 and PSP provides a showcase of what console cameras and motion sensing are capable of. Of course, augmented reality is not limited only to gaming. Layar, Augmented ID and TwittARound are but a few of the current applications which make good use of this technology. Augmented reality has now began filtering into the business sectors where companies are taking note of its showcase appeal with regards to sales and marketing.

3. Android

Google’s mobile OS, Android, also includes middleware, key applications and an SDK which provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using Java. With over two dozen Android powered phones, Google’s answer to the iPhone has an authoritative stamp of approval within the smartphone market. Sleek, customisable and with a modified Linux kernel for an engine, it’s no wonder Android has become the de facto smartphone choice, ranking first amongst all the OS handsets sold this year in the U.S. alone.

4. Mobile Video

The advent of readily available 3G networks worldwide has lead to an increased demand for mobile video services. Application marketplaces such as iTunes and Netflix, which predominantly maintain a purchase-to-download approach, have now also integrated video and TV-on-demand and streaming media onto their platforms. Alongside this, portable, accessible and, as of recently, full HD video cameras which are now a standard component of most smartphones, (such as Nokia’s N8 powerhouse which packs a 12 megapixel camera), allow for easy uploading and streaming of video content. Video blogging or vlogging has since become an accepted medium for feed and content aggregators across the globe.

5. Realtime Search

Search engine giant Google has taken realtime search to an authoritative level in 2010 by providing licensed realtime data streams from mainstream social networks such as Twitter and Facebook into its search results. The initial concerns with realtime search included relevance and also spam control –- filtering the informative live streams from the useless junk, particularly considering that end users would expect the same quality that traditional web searches provided. And this is where Google dominated.

By engaging the legitimacy of a valid tweet on Twitter or Facebook update status, Google’s tight-lipped algorithm delves into the popularity of these pocket-sized information nuggets and delivers.

6. Social Networks

In 2010 giants Facebook and Twitter have continued to dominate the social networking scene, with Twitter releasing its new iPad-like web layout and Facebook redesigning its user profile pages. Public awareness into social media has also increased this year with sites such as LinkedIn bridging the business/ social gap and merging company and user-based profiles together to the point that many company and recruitment entities are now actively engaging LinkedIn for resources.

Also, movies such as the box-office success The Social Network, which chronicles the rise of Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg, have added to the heightened public appeal. Major events, including the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, added to the euphoria, proving once and for all that social networks are above the misinterpretation of the web paradigm. Simply put, they’re big news. And they’re here to stay.

7. Cloud computing flies high

In the past year, cloud computing has really taken flight with the majority of internet sites’ architecture employing web services to consumers by converting their existing services to run on shared resources or “clouds”. Cloud-based services are low on costs and implementation and can be exploited in a variety of ways to develop an application or a solution that taps into the unlimited processing and storage power of vast data centres run by companies like Google or Amazon.

Isolated, system-specific and device and location-dependent applications are now a thing of the past as cloud computing provides the agility, security and readily available APIs across a scalable spectrum with reduced cost and maintenance leverages. For examples, read Technobuffalo’s great post on cloud computing.

8. HTML 5 sets the standard

Browsers such as Firefox and Chrome are already supporting HTML5, the evolution in web development. The addition of many new syntax features such as

2010: the year bandwidth prices nosedived

It has been a year of falling bandwidth prices in SA. Though it took a little time before it happened, the arrival of the Seacom undersea cable jumpstarted a downward spiral in broadband prices.

With access to lower international bandwidth prices, Internet service providers were given the chance to step up their game this year.

But exactly how much less are you paying for bandwidth this Christmas compared to last year?

Afrihost director Greg Payne says consumers are paying up to two-thirds less than they were a year ago for fixed-line bandwidth on Telkom’s digital subscriber lines.

This time last year, Internet providers were charging about R70/GB for 1GB of bandwidth on average. To put that into perspective, a standard 10GB capped account would have cost the consumer about R8 400 a year.

Now, the average cost is about R29/GB, translating into R3 400 over year for 10GB/month — a R4 920 saving.

Consumers could even buy 50GB of data without spending as much as they did last year for 10GB. A 50GB account from Afrihost, for example, costs R475 per month, or R5 700 a year.

Afrihost was one of the first companies to slash bandwidth prices — as early as September last year. Payne says that at the time it was charging less than cost price for bandwidth. It was confident that input costs would plummet.

At the top end, the cost of bandwidth has dropped to as little as R9,50/GB.

“We believed that prices would come down thanks to the new undersea cables and we were a late entrant to the market and so we needed to hit the market by storm,” says Payne.

Afrihost’s campaign resulted in it signing up more than 25 000 new subscribers in the six months that followed the first cuts.

Prices from rival MWeb have also plummeted, falling from R89 for 1GB of data last year to around R26 now.

But by far the most revolutionary development this year was the introduction of uncapped bandwidth accounts from MWeb. Not worrying about how much bandwidth they consumed changed the way many South Africans used the Internet.

Head of products at MWeb Nathier Kasu says people can now stream video, download video and music, and get stuck into online games without worrying about running over their bandwidth caps and getting cut off.

However, he says by far the most attractive aspect of uncapped broadband has been the fact that customers are able to budget on a fixed monthly amount. Before uncapped products came along, many consumers would top up their bandwidth when they ran out, leading to some months costing more than others.

MWeb’s uncapped service has been widely taken up, and Kasu says the company does have a few users he describes as “power downloaders”.

He says that, theoretically, if a user downloads constantly throughout the month using a 4Mbit/s line they could download more than 1TB of data. “We have had a few users that reached that limit,” Kasu says.

Despite the big drop in prices, Afrihost’s Payne says a lot can still be done to decrease the overall cost. “International bandwidth is now very well priced, but local bandwidth is still expensive,” he says.

In general, Internet providers buy up national bandwidth from Telkom at wholesale rates and on-sell those to consumers. Payne says there is quite a lot of room to reduce these costs.

Also, fixed-line broadband prices are inflated by the fees consumers have to pay to Telkom for line rental. These prices may start to come down when Telkom’s local loop — the “last mile” of copper cables between consumers and Telkom’s exchanges — is unbundled next year.

Fixed lines aren’t the only area where bandwidth prices have come down. Thanks to Cell C and Telkom’s 8ta, there’s been a lot of movement in mobile data, too.

Both 8ta and Cell C have introduced more competitive mobile data pricing and this could prompt their bigger rivals, MTN and Vodacom, to follow suit next year.

Cell C’s new data prices are set at such a level that one analyst, Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx, has even suggested its pricing is aimed at Telkom’s fixed-line offerings.

For bandwidth-starved South Africans, that’s music to the ears. — Candice Jones, TechCentral