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Tonderai Rutsito Techspot
In this challenging economic environment, the survival of any business is mainly based on focusing on maximising, profits while reducing costs. While communication is a fundamental aspect of any business, it can be a major cost element, especially when its not properly regulated. However, at the same time, regulating may not necessarily mean stopping.

The Standard Global Communication will next week open to the Enterprise Office Communication Summit 2014 running under the Theme “Reduce office communication costs by up to 50 percent”.

Among the topics, the open for all session will be discussing a concept that has always been there yet we probably never had the technology to implement. A system that simply calculates the most affordable way to reach any phone number be it a mobile, VoIP or a fixed land-line number.

It is not a secret that it costs almost nothing to call a NetOne cellphone number from another NetOne-based number, while a dollar gives you 10 minutes for Econet to Econet calls and Telecel is now charging less than 10 cents per minute on its various Telecel Go platforms. TelOne has remained the all-time lowest on intra calls at only 5 cents.

The rather shocking fact on the ground is that it costs more than 23 cents to call across network from any mobile phone, and much expensive to reach a landline from a cellphone and every minute many Zimbabweans are bleeding on these tariffs, although these charge sheets are already in the public domain.

The Standard Global Solutions will be unveiling solutions for enterprises that select the least cost routes to enable enterprises to efficiently communicate while they heavily cut on the cost factor that comes with the phone bills.

The first ever Enterprise Office Communications (EOC) Summit is an initiative co-sponsored by Standard Global Communications (Pvt) Ltd, Zimbabwe’s leading provider of office communication solutions, and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telecoms and security products, MatrixComSec (Matrix), of India.

The 2014 EOC Summit will feature insights from a telecom expert from India – the world’s emerging telecoms hub and telecoms gurus from Zimbabwe. Main topics to be covered include and the latest Telephone Management Software applications.

Of personal interest to me is the phenomenon of mobile Number Portability, (MNP). This is a technology which has deepened in most developed countries and most East and Western African countries are already running the technology, ironically Zimbabwe has been dragging its feet in implementing this technology.

Mobile Number Portability, in simple terms, allows any subscriber to switch from one network provider to the other, while he/she does not lose or need to change the phone number. Simply put, a cellphone number cannot determine the network a subscriber is hooked on since this can be switched over a certain agreed of time.

Implementing mobile Number Portability simply means we shall not have operators taking advantage of the subscribers basing on the fact that a subscriber will stick to a network because it’s honestly not easy to change phone numbers for most people, as this has obvious implications.

This will obviously force strong competition to be stirred and service delivery will greatly improve as slackening networks will be deserted easily by subscribers

Strangely enough, the national regulator, Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), whom had initially escalated the implementation of MNP, have suddenly stopped pushing the agenda, which earlier on had seemed to be top of their mission as the year began.

In the technological industry, those resisting such a technology in Zimbabwe are obvious beneficiaries of poor service delivery and fear the viability of their business should the playing field be levelled.

For Potraz, they are mandated to see that such technologies are implemented to improve the telecommunication industry.

Zimbabweans are ready for MNP, it is the solution that gives them true freedom and also a moment for true reflection for all the service providers as the customer once again is accorded the opportunity to become king.

Though the whole process does not come in cheap, and involves heavy supporting hardware infrastructure to facilitate the switch-overs, this is a necessary cost that the nation should incur to see a competitive and transformational telecoms sector in Zimbabwe.

TechnoMag is Zimbabwe`s Premier technology magazine. More in depth on www.technom.ag/ar follow us on twitter @TechnoMagzw, www.facebook.com/technomagzw mail [email protected]