Rob Lith
ICT industry heavyweight and Internet specialist Rob Lith has been involved in the industry for the last 20 years. Coming from a strong sales background and with a lifelong interest in technology, Rob has an in-depth knowledge of Internet markets, technology and products. He sees VoIP, location based services and presence as the “next wave” of technological advancement. Rob started out in the retail sales business in London in 1978, returning to South Africa to join Compustat in 1989, soon moving up to Durban to head up its KZN branch. He found a like mind in Steve Davies, who became his long term collaborator. Rob extended his knowledge of the SA technology and Internet business at Internet Africa (which became UUNET, then WorldCom, then Verizon), before striking out on his own in 2003 to co-found Connection Telecom.
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Change to VoIP, or the next rate cut could be your last
In 2010 Icasa, South Africa's telecoms regulator, announced that call termination rates - the price telcos may charge one another for carrying their calls - would drop each year over the next three years.
By 1 March 2013, the rate will be 40c/minute for mobile calls, 19c for national fixed-line calls, and 12c for local fixed-line calls.
But what will happen beyond 2013? "Recent events suggest that customers of the fixed and mobile networks have reached the end of the line with sustainable price cuts," says , Director of , "and may have to hasten their inevitable move to Voice over IP, following telcos and enterprises the world over."
- VOIP
- ICASA
There’s no enterprise complexity with cloud computing
“OK, admittedly there is complexity in the cloud. Any large-scale computing and communications infrastructure platform has complexity coming out of its ears,” says Rob Lith, Director of Connection Telecom. “But the point is that a good cloud-based solutions provider shields customers from it.”
- cloud technology
- complexity
- virtualisation
The argument for using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as a cost-cutting tool in businesses has long been won. In many instances, VoIP has cut costs in organisations by up to 50%. For others, the experience with VoIP was less than satisfactory – particularly the quality of phone calls. Complaints of delays, interference from non-voice traffic on the network and poor quality of calls are not uncommon or invalid. But before one dismisses the technology, it’s important to examine both the reasons for these issues and the possible solutions.
- VOIP
- LAN
- call quality