by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AN executive has forecast the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to cover the entire South African population by the end of 2022.
This prediction comes from Anton Potgieter, co-founder of NoPBX, a locally-developed, smartphone-based cloud PBX system that uses local GSM networks to turn standard smartphones into business switchboards.
“GSM mobile access already reaches almost all of the people who live within the 1,2 million square kilometre area that is South Africa,” he said.
The official compared this to the reach of fibre network operators which – in the best-case scenario – extends about 166 000 kilometres.
“If you want to be connected perfectly all the time, it makes far more sense to run a switchboard solution over mobile, not fibre,” Potgieter said.
Last year, 99,8 percent of South Africa’s of 60,3 million people had access to mobile network coverage, according to Statista (Mobile Coverage and Smartphone Penetration in South Africa 2015 – 2020).
Conversely, there were just 16 million high-speed fibre connections in 2019, according to the most recent “State of the ICT Sector Report.”
South Africa’s incredible and growing GSM mobile coverage is hailed as a lifeline for those small business owners, self-employed consultants and other NoPBX users taking breaks this December.
“Being able to take a fully functional switchboard with you, instead of merely forwarding calls to your personal mobile number, is a huge boost for simplicity and ease of use while away, all the while maintaining a professional image,” Potgieter added.
NoPBX has activated over 1 200 new PBX-over-GSM switchboards since its commercial launch in October 2020.
– CAJ News