Calls for cheaper cable costs grow

The South African government is looking to ‘re-designate’ the country’s submarine cable links as ‘essential services’ to improve the lot of alternative operators and ISPs working in the newly liberalised telecoms sector. The director general of the Communications Department, Pakamile Pongwana hopes to force the owners of the undersea links to lease capacity to local companies such as IPSs Internet Solutions and M-Web at wholesale rates, allowing them to offer cheaper calls using VoIP technology. The move has not been welcomed by former monopoly Telkom SA however, which could see its revenues hit hard in the short to medium term.