DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR TELECOMMUNICATIONS provider isn’t listening to you, or simply doesn’t understand your business? Unfortunately, the attitude of incumbent telcos in South Africa is based on a take it or leave it, ‘one size fits all’ mentality.

If you recognise this scenario, then the good news is that the commencement of the ECA in July 2005 saw emergence of a new category of telecommunications provider; the Value Added Network Services (VANS). Historically as providers of services, VANS are in an ideal position to tackle this problem head-on and replace legacy telco attitudes with a more consultative and collaborative approach.

South Africa is currently benefiting from a R50-billion rand investment boom in telecommunications infrastructure. What is driving these investments? A rising demand from corporate South Africa for high-speed networks that support converged services. A converged network enables voice and data to be transmitted over a single network, substantially reducing the costs of building and maintaining to separate networks. The technology also enables organisations to increase productivity and improve communications by making it possible to introduce applications such as remote telecommuting, collaborative whiteboarding, multimedia conferencing and unified messaging.

South African telcos are responding to this demand by developing next-generation networks (NGNs), with Telkom, Neotel, MTN and Vodacom Business all making recent announcements to that effect. In my few, digging up the pavements and implementing the physical services is not enough; incumbent telcos must also help their customers navigate the challenges associated with migrating to this new backbone. But it is only when next-generation networks are combined with next-generation mindsets that the incumbent telcos will be in a position to deliver on this critical requirement.

Unfortunately, based on the evidence so far, telco mindsets in South Africa have not shifted, and the traditional attitude of “I cook the food and you eat it” remains the norm rather than the exception. Many continue to operate in the belief that once they have delivered a physical service, then the ‘job is done’, leaving organisations wondering how everything fits together.

Incumbent telcos are technically and operationally restricted in their ability to adopt a collaborative customer approach, preferring to keep customers at arm’s length. Next-generation networks have huge potential to drive and support organizations business strategies, not just now but in the future. However, this can only be achieved through customer consultation and collaboration, extending services beyond the physical layer and delivering solutions based on commercial drivers.

By embedding these attributes into the company’s very DNA, service providers will be better placed to give organisations the confidence that their network will scale with their requirements. The outcome for customers is the ability to fully exploit the potential NGN in order to take their communications forward. The intricate alignment of capability and mindset gives them the control and choice of telecoms services that they need to make themselves successful. For many South African companies the next-generation has arrived not a moment too soon.