ISDN is fast becoming the preferred method to browse the Internet in Botswana under dial-up subscribers. The reason is that the Internet has become more important to many and the cost for access has come down.
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is an alternative method for making telephone calls. Instead of transmitting your voice analogue (the way it sounds when you speak), an ISDN handset takes your voice and turns it digital (the language computers understand). The ISDN telephone handset on the other side will then turn it back into analogue signalling, before presenting it to the listener.
Digital Signalling gives the Telephone Company the ability to send more than one call over the same piece of copper. With one BRI (Basic Rate Interface - a type of ISDN telephone line), you can thus do two things at a time; maybe have two telephone calls or talk on the phone while surfing the Internet or sending a fax. Yes, that’s right, you no longer have to pay more to phone a land line from your cellphone when you are on the Internet. With ISDN you can save money, because you can still use your phone when browsing. This also means that people dialling the Internet can get double the normal ISDN speed when browsing - all they need to do is to dial up twice (multi-linking). Taken that ISDN is already much faster than normal Internet access, this can put the LSDN user really in the pound seats. The downside of multi-linking is that you normally have to pay twice as much for Internet Access on ISP subscription as well as telephone call costs.
Although ISDN functions very differently at a low level, users quickly get comfortable with it as the instruments that it uses functions the same as it’s older analogue counterpart, but with many of the features that previously only cellular phones had. Although they look the same analogue telephone handsets and modems will not work in the ISDN environment (and vice versa).
ISDN has many added features. One is CLI (Caller Line Identification). With the right instrument you can see the number or even the name of the person that phoned you. Companies that bill time, like lawyers, can use this feature very effectively to make sure that their clients get charged correctly.
DDL (Direct Dialling Inward) is another useful feature of ISDN. If you have a PBX (switchboard system) with only one ISDN BRI (ISDN Line) and your company has 8 internal telephone lines, BTC can give your company 8 numbers. When somebody phones in, the phone will ring on the correct handset. With one BRI, your system will still only be able to handle 2 calls at the same time.
ISDN can also be used for video conferencing, especially when multi-linking the two ISDN channels. Unlike normal analogue, where you will need two modems to multi-link, most good ISDN modems will support it automatically.
ISDN is the ideal product for Internet users. It is much faster than analogue. You tend to stay on line shorter and save money on call costs if you mainly use the Internet for downloads and/or email. Browsers do tend to stay on-line longer as the experience is much less frustrating than with normal analogue access. Internet gaming actually becomes fun on ISDN.
Based on the assumption, that most people who purchase ISDN, do so, to connect to the Internet, BTC has gone into a joint venture with some local ISP’s (Internet Service Providers). ISP monthly subscription is bundled with the ISDN service. You therefore do not pay the ISP any direct fee as BTC shares both the basic monthly price of the bundle and call charges with the ISP.
BTC is currently marketing 4 such bundles under the title Fast Internet:
• Fast Access 30
• Fast Access 60
• Fast Access 120
• Fast Access 15 (The difference between this and the other bundles is that you only get free minutes during BTC Off-Peak hours. For Peak hours you pay the normal ISDN bundle call charge to the Internet).
ISDN costs P 1700 to install. This cost includes a refundable deposit of P1000. Rental is P227 per month. Normal telephone rates apply for calls. To be able to surf the Internet, the user has to pay a subscription to an ISP (from P99 to more than P 1000 per month to surf with ISDN). ISDN modems were also very expensive. With USB becoming cheaper, ISDN modems are now very competitively priced compared to normal analogue modems.
With the Fast Access product range you still pay the Installation and Deposit. The rental is replaced by the different Fast Access package monthly rates. Although you pay the normal BTC rates for your voice calls, you get a certain amount of time free for using the Internet. After this you pay the normal call rate plus an Internet Access surcharge. This surcharge gets shared between the participating ISP’s and BTC. Most of the participating ISP’s still sell ISDN on subscription basis in competition to the BTC product.
I have summarized the costs in the table for both the different BTC Fast Internet (ISDN Bundles) and some of the ISDN based products that are sold by real ISP’s in Botswana.
As with SF1 (Subscription Free Internet), BTC ISDN are seen by BTC as a step in the right direction. The bundles were packaged with the SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) market in mind. Fast Access 15 is the only product that is focused on the home user.
BTC is also looking at creating product bundles for cyber cafés and schools, which will give more free minutes. Hopefully the products will come in at sub-P2000 a month (including Internet call costs), which is the price level that all the cyber cafés I spoke to had in mind, when discussing ISDN as an alternative.
