www.balancingact-africa.com is a very valuable resource for anyone in the mobile and ICT (Information and Communications Technology) fields in Africa, and this article deals with the mobile service providers in the South African market specifically. Especially for young tech startup companies who is dependent on reliable infrastructure to base their services on, since it mostly runs online.

And then of course the product offerings and pricing structure from these players will determine the nature and extent of the tech industry ecosystem that will grow up in South Africa in this space.

MTN takes on Vodacom ISP in South Africa

MTN must reposition itself as an Internet service provider (ISP) in order to remain competitive, says Brian Seligmann, MTN’s data and messaging executive.

Speaking at the ITWeb Technology Roadmaps 2007 conference, in Bryanston yesterday, Seligmann said: “MTN has 4.5 million active data subscribers, and yet we still think of ourselves as a mobile provider and not an ISP. We need to start playing the game.”

Mobile services are evolving within the context of Internet services and these will be more important than the company’s traditional mobile voice offerings, he explained.

He said with the high levels of mobile penetration, MTN has the potential to dominate in the IP arena. “Mobile Internet will become more valuable than mobile voice services, and if we don’t get involved, we will fail.”

The availability of free Internet services, such as instant messaging and VOIP applications, are driving the company to look more directly at Internet services, he noted. “IP [Internet Protocol] services have the possibility to wipe out most mobile revenue.”

MTN is not the first cellular operator to elevate the importance of ISP services within its strategy. Earlier this year, its competitor Vodacom established an ISP business.