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Local alternative telecoms player O-Tel has unveiled its commercial national wireless network, using open frequencies to serve the SME space.
CEO Mohammad Patel says O-Tel is working on a strategy that will give it access to some of the available spectrum for WiMax (space in the 2.5GHz or 3.6GHz range). However, until there is clarity around how the spectrum will be auctioned, the company has made use of the alternative, he explains.
O-Tel was one of the 300-plus value-added network service providers to have its licence converted to the coveted iECNS licence, in January last year. Since then, the company has slowly been increasing its customer base and needed to provide a reliable last mile solution for its digital telephony services, notes Patel.
He explains that the company has started offering commercial services on its newly constructed wireless last mile network, which uses open frequency bands in 5.8GHz and 2.4GHz. “If we manage to procure WiMax spectrum, the technology only requires a few basic changes to run in those frequencies.”
While the company hopes to get its hands on WiMax spectrum, it does not have the 30% BEE requirement the regulator initially stipulated was needed to enter into the auction for the 2.5GHz and 3.6GHz bands.
However, Patel says O-Tel has several strategies in play that may put it in line to either directly receive the spectrum, or lease it from another business.
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