Systemfusion Inc., MTN Airborn and Sun are collaborating on a turnkey solution that will enable GSM networks in Africa to offer ISP services. The pre-packaged ISP solution will incorporate the Sun blade server, network attached storage hardware and Systemfusion's Evolutionware suite, plus numerous other value-add services and software.

"GSM operators in Africa are particularly well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for Internet access and email services among the continents consumers and businesses," says Craig Corte, general manager, Airborn Wired and Wireless. "Internet penetration stands at less than one percent in Africa, with adoption of the Internet hampered in the continent by a lack of fixed-line infrastructure. This has created an enormous pent-up demand for Internet services, providing an ideal revenue opportunity for GSM operators who want to increase annual revenue per user (ARPU) by giving customers access to data services."

"In most cases GSM operators geographically cover more of an African country with their networks than fixed-line providers. They also have the infrastructure to cater for the prepayment of ISP services in a continent where cash is still the predominant method of payment," says Chris Coulter, CEO of Systemsfusion.

Pointing out that ISP providers in Africa are ill prepared to build systems and services from scratch, Coulter adds, "...moving into the ISP market involves a steep learning curve across multiple technologies for the GSM operator. Our solution is designed to allow GSM operators to leverage the years of experience that Sun and Systemsfusion have built in the ISP space so that they can get up and running in the fastest possible time with the minimum complexity."

Among the ISP services included in the technology platform are radius, email, Web servers, proxy servers, and Web mail; customer care and billing modules including, billing, provisioning, trouble ticketing, network management and customer self-service; and dial-up acceleration for web browsing, email and Web mail. In addition, the package includes access to support, management and implementation skills, as well as skills transfer and disaster recovery planning.

Another attraction of the program is the prospect it provides for quick ROI, given the amount of groundwork that the vendors have accomplished for their customers from the outset. [...read more...]

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