The Department of Communications (DOC) has issued a tender for the installation of least-cost routing (LCR) equipment on its telephone system. Yet Telkom, majority owned by the government, has long held that least-cost routing is an illegal circumvention of its network and is undertaking legal action to put the practice to an end.
LCR is common practice in SA, with companies ranging from banks to mining houses using it. In its simplest form the equipment consists of what amounts to a cellular phone plugged into a company PABX. The PABX is programmed to split calls, with calls to Telkom numbers routed through a Telkom line and calls to cellphones routed through the cellphone module.
As calls from one cellphone to another are generally cheaper than using the fixed-line network, and considering the bulk discounts offered by cellular companies, users are nearly guaranteed that they will cut down on their telephone expenses. The resulting cost savings generally start at 10%, with savings of 40% or more on monthly telephone bills having been reported.
Under tender number DOC/36/2002/IT, bids to install such equipment at the Pretoria offices of the Department of Communications are due by 19 December.
Yet although LCR is widely used and LCR equipment is supplied by a number of companies, Telkom is pushing ahead with legal action to have it declared illegal and to claim compensation from those who market the systems.
In October, the company was forced to back down from threats that it would disconnect LCR equipment after the Independent Cellular Service Providers` Association asked the courts to intervene.
But a high court case on the legality of LCR is due to continue next year, with Telkom seeking an end to the practice and possible damages. It first launched the action against MTN and Vodacom in August 2000. By then, it said, it had for years tried to convince the cellphone companies to desist.
Telkom owns 50% of Vodacom, but the cellphone company has been defending the action, agreeing with MTN that it is acting within its rights.
Telkom argues that LCR represents a circumvention of its network, illegal under the Telecommunications Act that was created by the DOC.
This is not the first time the government, its departments or state-owned companies have fallen foul of telecommunications laws it created.
In November, Telkom disconnected some of the telephone lines of parastatal Transnet, alleging that Transnet was circumventing its network by bringing international telephone traffic into the country using its own network.
Also, while it is technically illegal to actively block cellphone radio signals, companies selling cell jamming devices say the SA Police are among their biggest clients and a case study by MTN shows how the National Intelligence Agency in Pretoria used such a device.
[ITWeb uses least-cost routing.]
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