TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Huge Group to acquire what was Virgin Mobile in South Africa

      6 July 2022

      TechCentral needs your feedback – 2022 reader survey now live

      6 July 2022

      Call for ‘energy emergency’ to end load shedding

      6 July 2022

      What South Africa can learn from India’s IT boom

      6 July 2022

      Where to next for Dimension Data

      5 July 2022
    • World

      China accuses US of ‘technological terrorism’

      6 July 2022

      Apple devices to get ‘Lockdown Mode’ to fight spyware

      6 July 2022

      Scientists at Cern observe three ‘exotic’ new particles

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin’s first African adopter plans own digital currency

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin hints at a bottom – but it may be different this time

      5 July 2022
    • In-depth

      The bonfire of the NFTs

      5 July 2022

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      Demystifying the complexity of AI – fact vs fiction

      6 July 2022

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022
    • Opinion

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»OTTs must pay their way: Telkom

    OTTs must pay their way: Telkom

    News By Duncan McLeod2 October 2014
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Richard Majoor
    Richard Majoor

    Telkom has become the second big operator in as many weeks to call on over-the-top (OTT) service providers to contribute a fair share for their use of South Africa’s telecommunications infrastructure. OTT players include international companies such as WhatsApp and Skype.

    Speaking at public hearings hosted by communications regulator Icasa on Thursday, Telkom’s head of regulatory affairs and public policy, Richard Majoor, warned that OTT players are “skimming” voice revenues from the operator and this is making it more difficult to cross-subsidise uneconomical rural areas using money made in profitable urban centres.

    Majoor’s comments follow remarks by MTN South Africa CEO Ahmad Farroukh, who told TechCentral in an interview two weeks ago that his company is not prepared to spend billions of dollars building advanced telecoms networks just so that OTT providers can get a “free ride” by competing with the company using that same costly infrastructure. There has to be some sort of quid pro quo, Farroukh said.

    Farroukh said mobile operators and OTT players had to reach a “certain understanding”. He added that the way OTT players used mobile operators’ networks is “unfair”.

    Now Telkom’s Majoor has warned that the “revenue erosion” being caused by OTT providers is making it more difficult for the company to sustain universal service obligations in loss-making rural parts of South Africa.

    “OTTs skimming voice revenues off Telkom impairs our ability to sustain this internal cross-subsidy in the long term,” Majoor said. “This should be taken into account into the design of regulatory measures.”

    This “skimming” will increase the access-line deficit — the amount of money Telkom loses for each line in service when only taking into account the basic telephone line rental fee — and this is particularly true in less economical areas where people use prepaid lines, he said.

    MTN South Africa CEO Ahmad Farroukh
    MTN South Africa CEO Ahmad Farroukh

    “A balance needs to be struck between OTTs that drive lower prices and operators like Telkom that have to invest in the network that allow OTTs to exist in the first place.”

    Majoor said Icasa should attempt to regulate OTTs directly “to the extent possible to make sure they make fair and proportionate contributions to the development of the telecoms sector”.

    He applauded the decision by government to impose 14% VAT on international providers of digital goods, even though commentators had expressed doubt about its enforceability.

    He suggested that OTTs that provide voice-over-Internet protocol telephony to consumers should be levied an “interconnection surcharge”.

    Telkom warned that regulatory and policy interventions must deal with the risks associated with OTT providers. Specifically, there must be a focus on stimulating and not undermining investment in telecoms infrastructure.

    At the same time, Telkom has warned that introducing net neutrality regulations in South Africa makes no sense. Net neutrality seeks to ensure operators can’t discriminate based on the types of traffic flowing across their networks. Majoor warned such regulations will lead to less choice and lower quality of service for consumers.  — © 2014 NewsCentral Media

    • See also: Cell C to zero-rate WhatsApp
    Icasa MTN Skype Telkom WhatsApp
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleTelkom wants first bite at digital dividend
    Next Article Dark Fibre in court victory

    Related Posts

    Huge Group to acquire what was Virgin Mobile in South Africa

    6 July 2022

    TechCentral needs your feedback – 2022 reader survey now live

    6 July 2022

    Call for ‘energy emergency’ to end load shedding

    6 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Hot Ink certifies and diversifies to maintain competitive printing edge

    5 July 2022

    Increased flexibility with Dell Precision Mobile Workstations

    5 July 2022

    The 5 secrets of customer experience in the cloud era

    5 July 2022
    Opinion

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.