THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 11 2012 00:20 | LAST UPDATED Feb 11 2012 00:20
Business | Telecommunications

Icasa chair expresses 'foreboding' over 2010

 JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - May 26 2009 12:16


Paris Mashile, chairperson of communications regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), on Tuesday expressed "fear" and "foreboding" over the ability of local mobile network providers to accommodate an influx of network traffic during the World Cup in 2010.

Speaking at a breakfast function in Rosebank, Mashile said: "How many of you have been totally satisfied with your service while on the move? Current mobile services are not mobile, but portable, open to dropped calls.

"It is because service providers are oversubscribed, which leads to dropped calls. It is like a taxi that can only accommodate 10 people, but overloads by squeezing 15 passengers into their vehicle," Mashile said.

"I have fears and foreboding for 2010," he continued. "What happens if there is a serious accident and networks are all blocked? How will networks accommodate for all video messages when people want to capture footage of their favourite players scoring a goal? Perhaps there will have to be portable base stations on the move.

"We have promised that we have the necessary infrastructure, so let's hope we can deliver, but I am fearful," Mashile said. -- I-Net Bridge

CONTINUES BELOW
TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE

Related Articles

Tags

People

Organisations

comment guidelines
  1. Please review our comment guidelines
  2. Post your comment in the block below and press "Post as ..."
  3. Please allow between 15 minutes and 48 hours for your comment to go live
  4. Racist, sexist or stupid comments will be terminated with extreme prejudice
blog comments powered by Disqus



LATEST ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION




@mailandguardian - Top stories & newsflashes
@NicDawes - M&G editor Nic Dawes
@ChrisRoperZA - Editor, M&G Online
@amabhungane - M&G Centre for Investigative Journ
@mgfeed - Our whole news feed


Advertisements