Category: Thought leadership

ICT services, specifically fixed and mobile connectivity, have been classified as “essential services” by the President – and confirmed in the regulations issued under section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, on 25 March 2020.

Our government has made it clear that it is an urgent priority to expand and maintain our country’s telecommunications network to allow South Africans to work, study and interact online.

In support of this key directive, we assure customers that we have deployed our organisation’s resources towards ensuring our personnel, infrastructure, policies and procedures are in place. We do this in order to continue to maintain our network, and to install and support our entire range of ICT services, as we are obliged and mandated to do.

Supporting customers is our priority

We are fully operational, and the following critical customer service departments continue to run 24/7:

1. • Vox Service Centre
   • Managed services and advanced customer support desks
   • Guardian Eye Nerve Centre
   • Vox Core

Installations and projects continue with as little interruption as possible, subject to the enhanced safety policies we have implemented. Where practical, we have introduced remote and self-install options for customers. Our Finance, Account Management and Sales teams are working remotely and continue to service our customers.

Safety practices to keep us all safe

We are uncompromising in our goal to ensure our new customers are provided with services, and our existing customers remain fully operational. We are also steadfast in ensuring the safety of our team and that of our customers.

To this end we have implemented all the policies as directed by our government and institutions such as the World Health Organisation. Including, but not limited to, the following:

• Equipping all our administrative and sales personnel (nationally), to work from home, adhere to the lockdown regulations, and continue their essential functions in servicing our customers and business partners.
• Utilising all the technology at our disposal to ensure the efficient operation of our organisation, uninterrupted communication both internally and with our valued stakeholders.
• Ensuring ongoing levels of hygiene throughout our operation.
• Educating our field personnel, enforcing required personal hygiene practices, and equipping them with the protective gear (masks, gloves and hand sanitiser). These practices ensure the safety of our customers and employees when conducting on-site technical work.

Our priority is the continued safety of our customers, staff and contractors. We ask that our customers provide us with any relevant feedback at talk2us@voxtelecom.co.za or at 087 805 0500.

 

It has been almost a week since South Africa joined several other countries around the world in locking down to limit the spread of the coronavirus. But beyond the impact this has had on people’s lives, it has highlighted how essential access to reliable, high-speed Fibre infrastructure has become for the economy to keep going.

It should come as no surprise that the government has identified it as a critical service. Fortunately, many people are still able to work remotely and fulfil most of their job requirements, albeit in a digital-centric way. Broadband penetration is critical to the economy. In a study conducted by the World Bank, it was proven that for every 10% increase in broadband penetration there is an increase between 1.19% and 1.35% rise in GDP. South Africa is in desperate need for all kinds of economic stimuli, hence the importance of keeping these services running during a lockdown period,

Of course, this entails more than just video conferencing and sending more emails. It reflects a fundamental shift in business approach that will enhance how companies operate.

Once the lockdown ends, the landscape would have evolved to such an extent that nothing will return to normal.

This push to allow for working from home, has put pressure on IT departments to ensure systems still run smoothly. If anything, it has illustrated that aging connectivity such as ADSL can no longer be relied upon. And while much is made about the user-friendliness of wireless technologies such as 4G, LTE, and 5G, the high cost of mobile data and the incapacity of the networks to deal with the influx of demand does not make it a viable option either.

One of the challenges mobile operators face is high contention rates. This means that the more users are on their networks, the slower access becomes. We have seen LTE users experience a speed decrease from 20Mbps to just 0.6Mbps when people started flooding video streaming sites rendering them virtually unusable. And beyond zero rating data to limited educational resources, the mobile providers have given little by way of a fresh value proposition to consumers during this difficult time. The recent price reduction was long overdue and is still not close to rates offered by the Fibre operators.

For their part, many Fibre operators have provided consumers with upgrades that automatically doubled their line speeds, free installations, increased capped products by as much as three times. This faster access is essential given how consumer usage patterns have now changed from download only to needing to upload data as well.

These changes have seen application marketplaces experience a significant shift in focus. During the week of 14 to 21 March, business apps topped 62 million downloads globally, an increase of 45% over the previous week.

Furthermore, Google has made the premium features of its Hangouts application available for free and Microsoft is offering a free six-month subscription to Microsoft Teams, to name just two examples of how changing consumer behaviour is transforming the market dynamics of connectivity solutions.

One of Fibre’s strengths is its scalability and capacity – it is virtually unlimited.

This means users’ line speeds can be upgraded in real-time with no disruption. And because it provides a smooth transition to the Cloud, Fibre also enables companies to automate many administrative-intensive processes thereby freeing up users to deliver more strategic value to the business.

Embrace the new

It is now an opportune time to look at embracing new ways of working and engaging with one another.

Take schools and institutions of higher learning for example. The situation has forced them to start working on distance learning options. If learners cannot return to school, e-learning becomes essential to help them keep up with work. This highlights the significant digital divide in the country where millions do not have access to the systems to allow for this to happen.

This requires educators to think differently and look for viable alternatives. It could very well pave the way for SMEs to come up with more innovative ways of educating and working in this time of crisis.

On the corporate side, the lockdown has forced many companies’ hand in getting them to examine how best to use Cloud-based business tools. This is critical if remote workers are to be empowered and help organisations remain fully functional during the lockdown.

Some of these tools can encompass everything:

• Transitioning the PBX into the Cloud that redirects company calls to employees’ mobile phones,
• Embracing unified communication solutions such as Microsoft Teams to ensure team members are still in touch with one another and can deliver on their project deliverables
• Using the Adobe Sign e-signature service to send, sign, track, and manage signature electronic document processes.

But irrespective of the solutions used, the common denominator is having a fast, reliable connectivity infrastructure. Therefore, Fibre network operators have a critical role to play in the country and must take this responsibility seriously.

Vital to adapt

Agility has become essential for survival. Society must work together to address the critical needs in the country. To this end, people must collectively take ownership of the issues faced. For example, parents need to be more involved in their children’s education and employees accept the responsibilities that come from working from home and ensure that they are disciplined.

South Africa is already starting to see this change. Fewer vehicles are on the road meaning people are spending less money on petrol, there are reduced emissions that benefit the environment, and fewer traffic officials who can be used to assist police and the military with other, more essential services. Small entrepreneurs will start to broaden their target markets placing pressure on large corporates to improve their value proposition.

Once the lockdown ends, it will be evident that Fibre can create a better life for people while still enabling many to continue to do their work.

There are lessons to be learnt from this as the country starts accepting this more effective way of working instead of trying to return to how things were.

Fibre has evolved from a luxury to becoming a utility such as electricity and water – one that has become essential to help grow the economy. Fibre will allow customers to accelerate the migration to Cloud based services as it provides higher speeds, no contention ratios, and higher reliability. As a Fibre network operator, Vox is taking its responsibility very seriously and will use this period as an opportunity to continue serving in the best interests of the citizens of the country.

 

As the hard reality of the COVID-19 hits us, businesses have had no other alternative but to instruct employees to stay home and work remotely, resulting in a global shift on how the economy, daily life and human interaction unfolds over the next few weeks.

 

Unfortunately, these rapid changes have created a threat of exploitation and opened up opportunities where cybercriminals thrive and sweep in to take advantage of the situation, thus putting systems in jeopardy and increasing the risk of ransomware attacks and phishing, especially those that don’t necessarily have adequate IT security measures in place.  The conditions are ripe for cyberattacks of every sort.  It is no wonder that since the COVID-19 outbreak, hospitals and other medical facilities across the globe have been victims of security breaches with sensitive data being held ransom or simply disrupting the operations of such institutes.

It’s a given that people working from home have fewer security defences on their home networks than they would have in the office – think firewalls and VPN vulnerabilities – coupled with stressful times and possibly more distraction than usual, thereby creating a situation whereby they are more likely to fall for malicious scams and hoaxes.

It is therefore extremely important for companies and IT Departments in particular, to continuously communicate with and educate staff on how to be vigilant and exercise caution when clicking on outbound links,and continuously remind them on the negative repercussions that can have.  Also, with more children being at home using streaming services and video games, the home network is further compromised.

So, what should the home worker be looking out for?

Be vigilant and wary of online scams

Unfortunately scammers use current situations like the COVID-19 pandemic to prey on collective fear and ignorance for their fraudulent activities.  They will for example, send emails, malicious domains, or fake applications claiming to provide important information when in fact they bear malware.

Beware of phishing

The hacker’s goal is to get a user to click on an emailed link that downloads malicious malware – don’t click on links from unknown sources!  Only download or install software from trusted sources and verify that the URL of any website that asks users to enter a password is accurate – hackers often set up URLs that are similar to real websites to harvest passwords.

Prevention is better than cure

• Change default passwords on your home wifi router to prevent hackers from accessing your network, and practice regularly changing your router password if it has previously been shared with others.
• Use strong and unique passwords (at least 10 characters including special characters such as @#$&) on every account and device.
• Look out for updates from your employer and IT Department – it’s also important to be up to date on new policies to help keep you and your company safe.
• Stay current on software and updates and security patches – keep all devices, apps and operating systems up to date. When you get reminders, don’t wait – update!
• Protect smartphones in the same way as laptops and ensure that they are updated with the latest firmware versions which must be downloaded from legitimate apps from official stores.
• If you have to use personal equipment, keep it as close as possible to office security standards by following your company’s data protection measures
• Remember that your company laptop is for your use only – do not allow other members of the household to use your company equipment.
• Back up your work using USBs or external hard drives in case of connectivity failure
• Since the whole family is working and studying from home, remember to create a safer digital environment by employing a home network security that not only protects your network against hackers, but also blocks and filters sites, thereby blocking inappropriate sites and content and controls social media usage.
• And lastly, educate the family around online safety. Ensure that all members of the family understand the dangers of the public nature of the internet.

 

Just as the world is being urged to practice hygiene for the COVID-19, so should we practice safe online hygiene.

 

With South Africa joining many other countries around the world shutting down in efforts to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus will turn to digital solutions to help people get on with their daily lives as best as possible.

 

Considering that fibre to the business (FTTB) pricing is now more affordable than DSL, it makes sense to investigate going this route for companies across industry sectors.

 

Digital engagement is only going to increase as a result of this week’s government announcements as more companies are looking at ways to empower people to work remotely. Even those in the services sector will need to consider providing customers with more value-adds as the economic impact of what is happening will be far-reaching.

 

Of course, this means that people will need to be incredibly disciplined to work remotely. But even though many home users in major suburban areas have installed fibre, in most instances this has been geared for a download-first experience. Things like movie and music streaming are all designed to have fast download speeds with not many giving any thought to creating symmetry with uploads.

 

As home offices will grow during this period more attention must be paid to configuring fibre to upload large work files and be conducive to video conferencing. This will see the focus turn to the unlimited upscalability of fibre that delivers a ‘cleaner’ internet experience as opposed to ADSL.

 

Cost market

Prior to this week’s developments, a fibre link from Vox that used to cost business R6,000 is now less than R900 in certain precincts. This has been designed to make high-speed connectivity accessible to companies of all sizes. Unfortunately, not many small business owners are aware of the price shift and understand what this data deflation means for them.

 

It is especially in a retail environment where it is difficult to get in touch with business owners as opposed to customer-facing staff and explain the advantages of going the fibre route. Even though these store environments have been looking at enhancing the customer experience, it has not been that much of a strategic focus. But what is happening now means more shop owners will have to look at creating a rich customer experience to truly differentiate themselves.

 

For example, a hair salon might not even have considered offering WiFi to customers leaving them to rely on their own mobile data to while the time away while having their hair done. By installing fibre, the salon can radically transform how people engage during their time there by having high-speed, high-quality, and free WiFi available to them.

 

At a time of crisis, customer experience will be everything. So much so that people will pay more for things if they feel they are treated with significant value-adds. Fibre can therefore radically transform the customer journey in this regard.

 

Economic impact

Even so, many underestimate the financial impact COVID-19 will have on the country. Currently, consumers are mainly buying food and toilet paper as opposed to new cars and hi-fi systems. Pharmaceutical companies are making money as people turn to vitamins while plastic bags to store the goods in are also hot property.

 

The rest of the market is taking a backseat with restaurants especially hard hit. This negative impact on the economy could potentially lead to bad debt as spending patterns shift. The knock-on effect will likely be job losses and an increase in crime.

 

Fibre provides a counter-balance to this. Contrary to perceptions that it is expensive, it has become affordable to all market segments especially when compared to slower, less reliant ADSL offerings. But even at a lower price point, it unlocks numerous business opportunities. For example, being able to more effectively access the cloud, use converged communication, collaborate with people anywhere in the world, and of course uncapped voice termination to name but a few.

 

Unlike wireless services, fibre is not contended. In other words, users have a dedicated connection for themselves and do not have to share bandwidth with anyone else in the neighbourhood or office block. It also scales far more easily than any other technology so businesses can easily upgrade their connectivity as required. This all contributes to an improved customer experience for businesses who provide access as part of their value adds.

 

But one of the fundamental advantages of having access to more affordable fibre is that companies can eliminate the risk of being reliant on one link to access all their converged communications. At such a low price point, they can easily de-risk themselves and adopt a far more effective, redundant strategy.

According to Statista, about 20 to 22 million people in South Africa use a smartphone, which accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s population. This, together with the declining cost of data is changing consumer behaviours, and businesses are increasingly having to turn to different channels and platforms through which to interact with their customers, writes Mayleen Bywater, Senior Product Manager for Email at Vox.

While getting your company’s message out has for long been seen as an art, the growth in capabilities of modern digital marketing tools means that organisations are increasingly taking data-driven decisions on how to deliver the right message to the right audience in order to get the maximum impact for their communications campaigns. 

Gone, however, are the days of simply spamming users with generic messaging. Organisations need digital tools that help them send out content, using data and analytics to identify customer preferences, and then modify accordingly. 

To be successful in their efforts, organisations need to be able to create intelligent, engaging, functional, and measurable communications. The need to be able to reach existing or potential customers at any time makes targeting them through mobile devices ideal, and communications should extend beyond just emails to SMS and even voice broadcasting.

According to Everlytic, the key to understanding how effective your emails are is the click-to-open rate (also known as the effective rate), which tells you what percentage of the people who opened your email also clicked on a link within the email. 

The most recent Everlytic Email Marketing Benchmarks report, released every two years, finds that most top quartile performers are achieving open rates of between 24% and 30%.

Overall, the publishing and media industry continues to lead the way in the top quartile, with a very respectable click-to-open rate of 20.04%, while top marketers at some financial institutions are getting a remarkable 36.82% open rate.

While the first impression toward voice broadcasting might be negative, due to the impersonal nature of robocalls most commonly experienced by South Africans, the technology can be used in a much better way. 

Rather than being used for cold-calling, personalised voice broadcasting has the potential to add a valuable dimension to help enhance customer service and customer relationship management.

Rather than generic spam robocalls trying to sell you products and services that you are not interested in, voice broadcasting can be used in instances such as reminding respondents about upcoming events they have signed up for or even informing travellers about flight delays or changes.

In addition, the rise in data and privacy regulation in many countries globally means that organisations have to be far more careful about how they contact people, make use of their contact details, and even how they store and protect confidential customer information. This makes working with a reputable digital marketing vendor all the more critical. 

When the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enforced in May 2018, companies made a conscious effort to get their house in order and security became a priority at board-level. Locally, the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPI) is imminent with the Information Regulator busy putting processes in place to monitor and enforce compliance of the act.

The onus will be on organisations to understand the measures put in place to secure the data, and to have processes in place that highlight how, and where personal information is stored, used and shared – and contravening these regulations, in the case of GDPR, can result in heavy fines.

With the right platform at hand, South African companies should be able to increase customer engagement by taking out the guesswork of what type of content to send out, through which communications medium, and when.

By turning to a full feature digital marketing platform, organisations will be able to take advantage of multi-channel communications, transactional client messaging, and automate customer journeys, using the resulting interactions and engagements to better understand their customers’ preferences – helping build brand and customer loyalty and improving the potential for sales in the process.

The power utility has the means for a new income stream that would also take the country into the fourth industrial revolution

Eskom, which is going to cost the government R150bn over the next decade, is cited as the single-biggest threat to SA’s fortunes. However, with some creativity the power utility could take fast internet to the masses. It is sitting on a fibre gold mine.

While the public has every right to be angry and demand accountability for the malaise of the state-owned enterprise as it directly affects all our fortunes, there is an opportunity that simply cannot be ignored. As the discussions focus on the utility’s unbundling and turnaround strategy, it would be useful for all stakeholders, from the president and public enterprises ministry to the decision-makers at Eskom, to consider a different revenue stream.

On every Eskom (and Transnet) power line there is a duct with core fibre strands in it. Two years ago Eskom brought in Deloitte to conduct studies, and then approached internet service providers (ISPs) and asked whether they would be interested in taking the capacity if  Eskom were to sell it. The response from us ISPs was an obvious yes, because their fibre contains unlimited capacity and speaks to our strategy of broad connectivity.

For instance, placing fibre in a remote Northern Cape town is the easy part, but the infrastructure cost to get there kills the business case before you even dig up the first pavement. The result? The town remains neglected. Yet here, in front of everyone’s eyes, is the solution. Many residents in these small towns only use the internet for basic services such as limited internet searches and social media. There is no streaming and no over-the-top offerings. Imagine turning this on its head: you “fibre up” the town and suddenly it goes from best-effort basic services to having the capability to leverage enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management in the cloud — in fact, just about any cloud-based services.

It’s not only connectivity that is improved. Education is enhanced, as is business efficiency and service delivery. Infrastructure that has been built up over generations is there, ready to be used. It provides immense potential for new revenue streams, but to date the report with such socioeconomic potential doesn’t appear to have caught the attention of the executive management at Eskom, the public enterprises ministry or the president.

There is research that draws a direct correlation between having people connected to the internet and the GDP growth of an economy.

With some creativity Eskom could take fast internet to the masses. It is sitting on a fibre gold mine.

That isn’t overly surprising; the utility is in survival mode. But the business case surely deserves consideration. The asset doesn’t need to be sold, and we all know how contentious that topic is. It could be leased over a period of time. New revenue streams would be made possible and the economic potential that could be unleashed is immense.

There is research that draws a direct correlation between having people connected to the internet and the GDP growth of an economy. The fourth industrial revolution presents an opportunity to fast-track SA’s development and improve the lives of its citizens. Of critical importance in this instance is that we have a golden opportunity to bring fast, cost-effective connectivity to the masses.

People who have never been connected to the internet before will be online. Industry is increasingly moving to the cloud, and unless businesses are connected they will become restricted in what they can achieve and remain uncompetitive.

In addition to harnessing the power of the fibre contained in the Eskom (and Transnet) infrastructure, ISPs look forward to the government moving on the release of 5G spectrum. But the load requirement as mobile connectivity continues expanding is growing exponentially. For us to keep up with these demands and increasingly data-intensive applications we simply have to have access to 5G.

Companies such as ours that have 5G as part of their strategic plans are watching with interest to see how the spectrum allocation eventually happens, because ultimately the cost will be passed on to the end user. That’s really where demand comes from, and SA’s inequality means the poor cannot access expensive services.

As South Africans we are agile, innovate, fast and make decisions well. The private sector is raising its hand to be part of the president’s “new dawn”. This country and continent has immense potential. It’s why we are strategically looking at creative and innovative ways to invest in both the consumer and business client in SA, and then take this successful strategy to other parts of Africa and the world.

The knock-on revenue streams continually increase, from big data and advertising, to smart malls and eventually smart cities. The government has in its control the infrastructure to enable ISPs to make this future a reality.

 

*Original article published and written by The Business Day, 28 March 2019