TECHFORUM                                        The world goes wireless [Johannesburg, 15 November 2003] - The world is moving towards a network-centred society. Not one where you have to sell soap to your friends regularly, but a society where information is an airwave away. Gone are the days when collecting information meant walking the few blocks to the town library or going to school. People who do not ring up their microwave, just before leaving the office, with instructions to start preparing supper, will either be totally out of touch, technologically challenged or perhaps just not hungry. This is what Mr André Coetzee, Operations Director for Arkateq, sees as being the technological future of our planet. Mr Coetzee shared some ideas on trends on where networking and communication are moving towards, as well as technological breakthroughs which are already re-shaping societies, during a rather enlightening interview with Confidence. Thought cellular phones were only for phoning, or watches only for telling the time? Most of us know that it is now possible to receive FM radio, browse the Internet, take pictures and even plan your day on a cellular telephone. But the latest phones do more than that, allowing you to videoconference, listen to MP3's and even download movies. "These may seem like tremendous technological breakthroughs, when in reality it is little more than the convergence of existing technology from separate areas", Mr Coetzee said. "There are three major uses of portable technology today," he explained. "We have notebook computers, cellular telephones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). When these technologies blend together, the result is a cell phone acting like a PDA and PDAs thinking they are notebooks. Intimidating? "Absolutely," agreed Mr Coetzee. "Technology progresses at such high speeds that as soon as appliances roll off the production line, they are already outdated. The fact is, that as a communications medium, a cell phone can last a lifetime, but there is no profit in building something that lasts forever. Manufacturers are therefore constantly developing new features and promoting the need of these to their clients, so they can finance their continuous research into better technology. What is better than filling a need in the market is creating the need. Cell phone technology is not the only science involved in the infinite quest for perfection - it shares the stage with micro-electronics and programming development." George Orwell's book entitled 1984 was perhaps a bit premature, it should have been 2084, it seems. Inconceivable as it may have appeared decades ago, we are really moving towards a world where everything is connected to a network and subsequently monitored and watched, including our fridges, stoves, kettles and kids! Soon there will be very few cables - only airwaves. At the moment, no matter who your network provider is, Telkom is always included somewhere along the line, even if it is just to receive some royalty payment. Arkateq believes that South Africa will hugely benefit from a second and maybe even third landline company, not because Telkom is inefficient, but because competition always brings with it innovation, reduced pricing and consumer benefits. Having a monopoly means that technology develops and is rolled out at a slower rate simply because it is not necessary to come up with new ideas and services to clients. "I fail to understand why there is a viability for three cell phone companies in South Africa, but only one landline company. Telkom needs competition so that technology can be rolled out faster - the sooner the better." In the United States many local calls are free, because there is no cost involved in local calls, transmitted through the same operator, as a result of the fact that the cables have been paid for years ago. Telephone companies can therefore afford to render this service to customers. In fact, they can barely afford not to provide this service because it will only give their competitors a greater advantage. The outcome is people who can afford to spend long hours using the Internet and, voila, cheap network technology is available to the masses. It is clear why competition is essential to a healthy economy, especially technology wise. "Some may argue that it is dangerous to grant such unlimited access to the Internet, especially to children. I reckon that is not true. It is like saying that guns kill people. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. We will then be admitting that society is running rampant and that access to information is dangerous. What is dangerous is what lies in the hearts of people." Better still than landline communications, Mr Coetzee added, is transmissions via satellite, which is how MultiChoice transmits its DSTV. This method enables MultiChoice to broadcast to countries as far removed as the USA, Britain and Asia. To get back to Telkom: They have recently introduced an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), a development Arkateq is quite excited about. This means businesses can be connected to the Internet permanently, at a monthly cost of R1 039. Private individuals pay even less. This line is much cheaper than a fixed line link. The bandwidth of a high-speed link such as this is four to eight megabits. It is a pity, though, that Telkom has only rolled out the 512-kilobit version. British Telecom, in comparison, has bandwidth choices of 512 Kb, 1024 Kb, 2 Mb and 4Mb. "It is not the ideal situation to make this technology available to people only to restrict it. It is a little like building a highway, but giving two of the four lanes to emergency vehicles only." However, the concept of a global technological village may pose a few thorny issues. For example, in the near future, will we be required to have a TV license when buying cellular telephones that have video receivers?