Infighting could up 2010 ICT costs

SA`s challenge to provide communications and broadcasting solutions for the 2010 World Cup could be heightened by political division and wrangling, says a new Gartner report.

However, the chances of outright failure to meet its FIFA obligations are low, though there is a possibility ongoing divisions could slow the process and require an expensive last minute push, says Gartner analyst Will Hahn.

He says international network equipment vendors working to get a slice of the 2010 market should understand the power of local political and cultural imperatives when entering an emerging market. This upcoming event in SA guarantees added urgency but will not clear the way for "business as usual", he notes.

Hahn says in the report, "Dataquest Insight: World Cup Will Advance South Africa`s Telecom Network", that SA faces a huge challenge to broadcast events in high-definition TV, and support mobile traffic and enormous Web traffic flows. The country`s telecommunications infrastructure also needs to be resilient and redundant enough to handle increased traffic on public networks, he says.

The communications and broadcasting demands of hosting a live sporting event of this scale have always challenged national networks, even in markets far more advanced than SA, he writes.

"In Germany, during the 2006 World Cup, 736 footballers competed in front of 3.5 million people and a TV audience estimated at over three billion. Viewer hours exceeded 73 million and the private network built to serve the event recorded more than 21Tb of data in the month the games were held."

SA has not finalised its ICT budget, which is currently estimated at R5 billion. Department of Communications deputy director-general Rosey Sekese previously indicated the budget would be finalised once the major contracts have been signed.

SA faces the challenge of providing connectivity for 10 stadiums, and the international broadcast centre. Previous requirements indicate redundant 40Gbps fibre pairs will be needed and information made public by Sentech suggests this fibre optic network will be over 5 500km, Hahn notes.

To meet this expectation, SA is to invest an estimated R5 billion in ICT infrastructure. Much of the work has been accelerated to meet deadlines, with government and parties involved in the 2010 project stepping up their activities and announcing projects at a rapid rate.

Projects include a number of undersea cables (Eassy, Seacom and the Nepad Broadband Infrastructure networks), as well as moving 75% of broadcasting infrastructure to a digital platform.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA has also been instructed to pave the way for mobile TV broadcasting by allocating spectrum for unified digital video broadcasting.

With all these activities in motion, foreign equipment vendors and service providers will also jockey for a slice of the 2010 pie, positioning themselves to help South African carriers supply the required communications and broadcasting capabilities for the tournament.

Broadcasters interested in obtaining rights to show the World Cup should also start to find out what routes and technologies will be available to transport live feeds across SA`s network and to international audiences, says Hahn.

"Telecom carriers and other service providers should work to understand the local scene and the needs of this kind of sporting event. They will then be better placed to make winning offers of partnerships with the local players that will have the main franchises to deliver capabilities and services."