Johannesburg, 31 Aug 2006
SA`s much-anticipated second national operator, touted as the first real competitor to fixed-line utility Telkom, was officially launched today in Johannesburg, branded Neotel.
Today`s announcement saw the introduction of the telecoms group`s first service to the wholesale telecoms market. MD Ajay Pandey outlined the group`s planned roll-out of telecoms and stated the company would offer initial services to consumers by March 2007.
Neotel has secured access to Eskom and Transnet`s infrastructure, including almost 10 000km of optical fibre backbone within metros and across the country, which will allow it to offer a range of fixed and wireless services.
"We anticipate a cumulative capital expenditure of more than R11 billion in the first 10 years of operations," Pandey said.
He stated Neotel`s wholesale voice services include carrying international calls from mobile network operators and VANS in SA to their destination countries and handing them over to one of Neotel`s more than 400 international partners for termination to the dialled number. Neotel will also carry international voice calls destined for SA from almost 200 countries.
While the wholesale services are meant for other telecoms players, the benefits will flow through to the end-user as well, Pandey stated. Incoming international calls for residential and business clients, connected to Noetel services, will be of a higher quality, he added.
Pandey revealed that Neotel`s key customers include arivia.kom, Cell C, ECN, Internet Solutions, MTN, MWeb, Citrix, Tele Lesotho, Telkom, Transtel and Vodacom.
Today`s launch will be followed by the start of the roll-out of services to businesses in December. Corporate services will begin with a limited number of customers in the major metros - Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban.
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