We have been hearing a lot about a brave new world of deregulated telecommunications in South Africa. It`s a world, we are told, where companies can save up to 30 percent a year on their telecoms bills using alternative technologies like least-cost routing and voice over IP (VOIP). For a big bank or retailer spending R100-million a year on telecoms, that`s significant money.

Can this be true? Several local ICT suppliers say it is. In fact, says Willem van Rensburg, group executive strategic solutions at Business Connexion, these savings are not only real, but have the potential to fuel a mini-boom in IT spending as companies look to redeploy the savings in areas that will make their business more competitive.

“Simply saving money on the cost of communications is not the big ‘wow` of services like VOIP,” says Van Rensburg. “You`re not going to grow your business by cutting costs. The magic lies in the kind of services you can put on top of a converged network, and actually having the money to make that type of integrated technology platform happen.”