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10th
April
ADSL
South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 2 April
2007
This is the date on which Telkom
will launch its new wholesale ADSL access service, which will
make the reselling of single price ADSL packages
possible.
What’s this new service
all about?
‘The new wholesale service, where
ISPs will resell the ADSL access portion and handle most of the
installation and support of the service, was recently announced
by Telkom’ (ISPs cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new
wholesale ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April
2007).
Are ISPs happy about
Telkom’s planned new service?
Yes, most Internet Service
Providers (ISPS) seem to be happy about the planned new service
but there are some concerns.
Here are some of the
responses:
-
DataPro
– ‘DataPro’s Simon Butler
said that it is fantastic news and added that it
fits in perfectly with their strategy of offering
comprehensive solutions to the residential market.
He said that the margins provided with this
wholesale service will allow them to develop and
offer more attractive ADSL bundles to their
subscribers. Butler feels that a one-priced ADSL
package will bring ISPs closer to owning the
customer and he is confident that it is only a
matter of time before consumers will be able to
purchase a full service, inclusive of the current
analogue line rental, directly from their ISP’
(ISPs cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new
wholesale ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April
2007).
In other words,
DataPro’s response to the planned new service can
be described as very positive, since customers’
contact with Telkom will be cut to the bone on the
end of the day, while making the process of getting
an ADSL connection shorter and
easier.
-
Gamco
– ‘Sean Bezuidenhout from
Gamco agrees with Butler reiterating that it is an
exciting development, giving ISPs far more
‘ownership’ of the client and enabling them to
offer a complete service to a customer which will
make the sale of the service a lot easier’ (ISPs
cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new wholesale
ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April 2007). Also,
“The margins however are very disconcerting
considering the risk associated with carrying the
line costs, secondly support will now have to be
carried by ourselves which is going to put a lot
more pressure on our call centres. The cost ratio
to supporting customers is going to further erode
the small discount that has been made available”
(ISPs cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new
wholesale ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April
2007).
In other words, while
Gamco is like DataPro optimistic about the new
service, its also ‘…concerned about the small
margins and the additional support and expenses
which will accompany the new service’ (ISPs
cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new wholesale
ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April
2007).
-
WebAfrica
- “A move in the right
direction for sure, however there are currently
question marks on the way it will be implemented
which will decide the viability for an ISP” (ISPs
cautiously optimistic about Telkom’s new wholesale
ADSL access product, MyADSL, 2 April 2007). This is
according to Managing Director of WebAfrica,
Matthew Tagg. Also, ‘…the margin is around 15 -
22%, if we are expected to provide line fault
support, billing, etc it is cutting things rather
fine. We would be happy with a 30% margin to
adequately cover those costs” (ISPs cautiously
optimistic about Telkom’s new wholesale ADSL access
product, MyADSL, 2 April 2007).
In other words, while
WebAfrica deem it as ‘…a move in the right
direction…’ its also concerned about small
margins.
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