The cost of deploying network infrastructure and the long delays experienced in securing site permits could hamper telecommunications group MTN’s ability to satisfy the needs emerging from the “data tsunami” in South Africa, MTN chief technology officer Eben Albertyn said at the recent Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa) inquiry into the state of competition in the information and communication technology sector.

He added that proponents would need to find a more efficient way of delivering the network services to benefit consumers.

“Demand is outstripping supply,” he said on the third day of the hearing, which also saw Neotel, Telkom, Vodacom and Cell C airing their views.

“The demand curve is no longer at the bottom of the hockey stick,” Albertyn explained. “We are now seeing the nasty [rise] of the hockey stick.”

Demand was increasing so rapidly that spectral efficiency and networks could no longer cater for the demand, he noted, adding that billions of rands, innovation and scale were needed to deliver the required capacity.

This was in addition to the long lead times to secure approvals for infrastructure roll-out, access to spectrum, access to power infrastructure and capital expenditure (capex). Equipment theft and vandalism had become the dominant inhibiters to the roll-out of infrastructure and networks in South Africa.

“We are moving backward,” he warned.

The framework allowing operators to obtain permits to build infrastructure had not evolved at the same now-fast pace that operators could roll out the networks, owing to technology, Albertyn noted.

He pointed to the current 200- to 350-day delays in securing way-leave approvals as being directly responsible for MTN experiencing great challenges in deploying its third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation services.

Neotel MD Sunil Joshi commented earlier that permit delays, red tape and resistance, owing to a lack of a rapid deployment policy, had led to a 20-month delay and added R100-million to its bill to complete its national fibre network build.

The implementation of “rapid deployment guidelines” would provide the regulatory platform to ensure infrastructure was adequately developed and leveraged across South Africa.

Further, MTN believed that network consolidation, infrastructure-sharing and joint ventures needed to accelerate the exploitation of economies of scale and synergies and ensure the required network infrastructure investment kept pace, and innovation continued.

MTN GM for regulatory affairs Graham de Vries said, with networks required to cater for an exponential growth in demand for broadband – with the price tag running into billions of rands to achieve this – consolidation would also emerge as a key enabler.

Many network operators were examining network sharing, partnerships and consolidation in some form or another to bring down costs and add scale.

“It does not make sense to roll out duplicate infrastructure,” De Vries pointed out.

Deals were already under way, he noted, highlighting a site in Betty’s Bay, where all four mobile operators were present but only two base stations had been established.