Neotel

Neotel
FormerlySNO Telecommunications
Company typePrivate company[1]
Neotel
IndustryCommunications Services
Founded31 August 2006
DefunctJune 2016
FateAcquired by Liquid Telecom Group
SuccessorLiquid Telecom Group
Headquarters
Midrand
,
South Africa
Area served
South Africa
ProductsTelecommunications
Wireless and Wireline Broadband Services
Managed Services
Websitewww.neotel.co.za

Neotel, previously SNO Telecommunications, is the second national operator (SNO) for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa. It was unveiled on 31 August 2006 in Kyalami in Midrand. Neotel is South Africa's first direct telecommunications competitor to the current telecommunications parastatal, Telkom.

The new company announced its business services on 15 November 2007 and its consumer services in May 2008. Its business services include local and international leased line services, as well as a suite of voice, data (VPN), and Internet offerings delivered over its converged, next-generation network.[2] International Transit services for wholesale customers have been available since September 2006.[3][4] They plan to use wireless broadband technologies, amongst others, which not only allows data transfers but also voice in the form of VOIP.[5]

The arrival of a competitor is said to bring competitive pricing in terms of high speed internet (avg. 250 kbit/s to 750 kbit/s CDMA2000), broadband through WiMax, and later high speed broadband (xDSL and Fibre).[6][7] For many years South Africa had only one telecommunications service, Telkom, which is partly government owned and partly private owned, but now for the first time people will have a choice of telecommunication services.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Neotel FAQ". Archived from the original on 24 September 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
  2. ^ "Neotel website". Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  3. ^ Stones Leslie (1 September 2006). "Neotel gives Telkom taste of competition". Businessday. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  4. ^ Bouzaglou, Hila and I-Net Bridge (31 August 2006). "Say hello to Neotel, SA's second national operator". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  5. ^ "Neotel website". Archived from the original on 24 September 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  6. ^ MyADSL (7 September 2006). "Neotel: 'Telecoms prices should be 25% of what it is now'". Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  7. ^ MyBroadband (10 July 2007). "Neotel Broadband - xDSL and Fibre on the cards". Retrieved 11 July 2007.