1)
In brief,
please describe your organisation and the work it is doing in South Africa.
Corning Incorporated
is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics, the inventor of the first
low-loss optical fibre and the world’s largest supplier of optical fibre.
Corning optical fibre is the most widely deployed brand of optical fibre in the
world, with a tremendous amount of experience working with operators who deploy
optical fibre throughout the world. It only makes sense, therefore, that as
South Africans go through the Information and Communications (ICT) revolution,
including the deployment of fibre optic infrastructure that Corning supports
them by supplying high quality fibre and offering free consultations on fibre
network design. Corning has supplied most of the fibre that goes into submarine
cables coming to South Africa and the sub-region and is working with most
operators in the country to ensure that they deploy the most appropriate fibres
that enable low overall cost of network ownership. Corning also offers South
African operators free training seminars on the fundamentals of optical fibre;
to register visit this website: http://www.globalcommhost.com/cof/2012events/
2) How would
you sum up the characteristic of the South African telecoms, media and ICT
industry this year?
The South African
telecom market has remained one of the largest markets in Africa and still
growing. Although about 50% of all operational fibre optic cable in Africa is
in South Africa, the deployment of terrestrial long haul and metropolitan
networks continues unabated. Broadband adoption continues to evolve with
entrepreneurs coming up with innovative broadband applications but with a
broadband penetration of less than 20% and a target broadband penetration of
100% by 2020, South Africa provides for great opportunities. South Africa is not only attracting direct foreign
investment for the deployment of telecommunication infrastructure but there are
huge local investments.
3) What
would you say is your organisation’s priority for 2012?
Corning’s priority
for 2012 is to strengthen our relationship with operators in South Africa
through our free educational seminars and assist them in designing their
networks.
4)
Which type
of services do you think consumers are going to be calling for in 2013?
More and more
consumers will be calling for emerging broadband applications such as video
streaming, money transfer, electronic newspapers, and video conferencing. It is
incumbent on South African operators to move away from voice as the main source
of their revenue and focus instead on these new applications as alternative
sources of revenue streams. However, such applications would require high
quality and high speed broadband so more focus should be placed on network
quality. We also see a tremendous
adaption of broadband by the public service, including the establishment e-tolls
and municipality city wide broadband networks.
5)
How important do you think
cost-efficiency/reduction is for service providers in South Africa this year?
With so much price pressure on many
services, cost efficiency becomes imperative. However, cost efficiency does not
equate to operators procuring less expensive products that may compromise
reliability and functionality. In the case of network infrastructure deployed
to support broadband services, a cost efficient network is one whose cost per
Mb/s will decline as more and more capacity is utilised. It has become common
for some operators in South Africa and Africa to select turn-key solution
vendors based on the lowest cost as the most important criteria for their
selection. It turns out that networks that are the cheapest to deploy on “Day
One”, may turn out to be the most expensive networks to maintain and upgrade
over the more than 20 year life of the networks.
6)
What do you think is needed to
improve connectivity for the underserved in your market?
Since connectivity to the underserved,
usually rural areas, may not make good business sense for individual operators,
there has to be a concerted effort between government, operators and
infrastructure companies to bring connectivity to these areas. The South
African regulator, ICASA, established a regulation for all telecommunication
operators to contribute to a Universal Service and Access Fund to support rural
connectivity. This could go a long way to improve the status of rural
connectivity. When government
departments are planning for rural electrification or developing new roads to
rural areas, they have to simultaneously plan to deploy optical fibre. In Southern
Africa, , through the Southern Africa Power Pool, it has become mandatory for
all new power lines to be equipped with optical ground wire so that any new
power lines to rural areas will carry optical fibre that will facilitate
connectivity to the underserved areas. Cable can also be installed along new
roads, significantly reducing the civil works cost of deploying cable
7)
What do you think are the 3 key
attributes needed to succeed in South Africa’s telecoms, media and ICT industry
going forward?
1.
There is now adequate capacity on South African shores but
more work is needed to deploy terrestrial fibre networks closer to the consumer
to improve the speed and quality of broadband services.
2.
While mobile broadband will be the predominant form of
broadband for the majority of South Africans, there are applications for which mobile
broadband will never measure up and wire-line broadband is imperative.
Therefore, as South African’s deploy next generation mobile broadband networks,
fiber to the home networks and more advanced forms of XDSL, such as VDSL,
should be deployed in parallel.
3.
Operators should move away from voice as their main source
of revenue and embrace emerging applications such as video streaming, video
conferencing, security surveillance, etc. as alternative sources of their
revenue streams. Operators and entrepreneurs should create new broadband
applications to solve South Africa and Africa’s unique challenges.
8) Which key message do you want
to highlight to the audience during your participation at South AfricaCom in
Cape Town this September?
Corning has been
in the fibre optic business for over 42 years, remaining the industry leader
due to its fundamental understanding of optical fiber, high quality products,
innovations, and solid business relationships. Corning understands that the
highest quality network operators throughout the world are the most successful
and believe that South African operators who embrace quality in their network
design, deployment, and operations will succeed.
Join Corning Optical Fiber’s free seminar on fiber optics at AfricaCom
Date: Tuesday, November
13, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m.
As the fundamental passive carrier of all your
network data, the optical fibre is one of the most important elements of a
telecommunications network. The optical fibre you install today is expected to
perform for 25 years or more. Therefore deciding which fibre to use is a highly
important decision that determines the future performance of your network.
At the end of this seminar, the attendee will
understand essential aspects of optical fibre and its application to
telecommunication systems and network Design, be able to specify the most appropriate
optical fibre for different telecommunications applications to ensure longevity
of network performance, and be aware of the latest innovations in optical fibre
technology and associated next generation optical fibers.
Who should attend?
Engineers and managers responsible for network
planning and design, fibre optic specifications and cable procurement.
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