MWeb announce cheap uncapped broadband

MWeb significantly cut broadband prices today with a new full range of uncapped packages. This is truly fantastic news to South Africans since these sort of prices have been long overdue. South Africa is now slowly but surely getting in line with the rest of the world as far as broadband prices go.

South Africans are used to data caps where you have to constantly monitor your bandwidth usage every month to ensure you don't go over your data limit. When you do go over the monthly limit you are either cut off completely or you have to top-up your data (Gb's) at additional costs. Usually an expensive exercise.

However, with MWeb's new uncapped ADSL packages, those days are over. Now you can download as much as you want for a fixed price, the way it should be! There were other uncapped products in the market before this but they were quite expensive. MWeb's new packages are quite affordable.

MWeb's new uncapped packages
(Can sign up from 22 March, available from 1 April)

CONSUMER products: Shaped, month-to-month)

Data only (therefore excluding line rental from Telkom)

• Uncapped ADSL 384Kbps: R219
• Uncapped ADSL 512Kbps: R299
• Uncapped ADSL 4096Kbps: R539

All inclusive (data and line rental)

• Uncapped All-inclusive 384Kbps: R349
• Uncapped All-inclusive 512Kbps: R599
• Uncapped All-inclusive 4096Kbps: R899

BUSINESS products: Unshaped, 12 month contract)

Data only (therefore excluding line rental from Telkom)

• Uncapped ADSL 384Kbps: R499
• Uncapped ADSL 512Kbps: R699
• Uncapped ADSL 4096Kbps: R1 999

All inclusive (data and line rental)

• Uncapped All-inclusive 384Kbps: R629
• Uncapped All-inclusive 512Kbps: R999
• Uncapped All-inclusive 4096Kbps: R2 259

Shaped - Web browsing and emails get priority on the network
Unshaped - All protocols on the network have the same priority, so whether you're browsing the web or downloading on a peer-to-network, you should get similar download speeds

Cheap, cheaper, cheapest

These are the cheapest uncapped broadband packages currently available in South Africa and will surely start a real price war amongst Internet Service Providers. MWeb is a big player and they have the ability to shake up the market. They're getting their international bandwidth from both the SAT-3 and SEACOM undersea cables. With the arrival of more undersea cables to South Africa, like WACS and EASSy during the next two years, wholesale prices for international bandwidth are expected to fall dramatically which in turn will lead to even cheaper packages for consumers of broadband in this country.

Terms and Conditions strongly worded - could put of power users!

MWeb's ADSL Terms and Conditions page (as on 18 March 2010) made me frown, especially paragraph 5.6 and 5.10:

5.6 You may not restrict, inhibit or interfere with the ability of any person to access, use or enjoy the Internet or the ADSL Services, or create an unusually large burden on our network, including, without limitation, continuously uploading or downloading streaming video or audio; continuous FTP uploading or downloading

Well, with an uncapped product I definitely expect to be allowed to listen to online radio streaming all day long if I wanted to, same goes for video streaming! Also, no continuous downloads allowed? That would effectively eliminate all power users. It will therefore be interesting to see how seriously MWeb enforces these conditions because if they do, I for one can't sign up with MWeb.

5.10 You may not use the ADSL Service for unattended automated operation, unless otherwise agreed. You may stay connected as long as you are actively using that connection. You further agree not to use Internet applications for the purpose of simulating network activity to avoid session inactivity disconnection.

Par 5.10 is simply ridiculous and hails from the days of dialup connections. The whole point of using ADSL is to be connected 24/7 in the first place.

Proof is in the pudding

One concern is that MWeb is not exactly renowned for their support levels if compared to other medium-sized ISP's and considering that they will get an influx of people signing up for these new packages, they will have to up their service levels considerably.

Network stability and contention ratios are also very important factors. Cheap broadband means nothing if your online experience suffers due to constant irregular browsing/download speeds. Hopefully MWeb won't have these issues because with these low prices MWeb is clearly vying for the position as market leader in the consumer broadband space in South Africa. It will be interesting to see what the rival ISP's come up with during the next few months!

The only other drawback is that Telkom owns the 'local loop' (lines from exchanges to your residence) and they charge a hefty line rental fee for it. It would be great if Telkom could lower (or drop!) the line rental in future because then South Africans will end up paying broadband prices that are truly in line with first world countries.

Related links
MWeb scraps data caps - Gadget
MWeb throws down gauntlet to rivals - TechCentral
MWeb's uncapped packages - MWeb Read more on "MWeb announce cheap uncapped broadband"!

The Broadband Bible for January 2010 released

Need help choosing an ADSL plan? Maybe this can help.

So my partner Craig and I have opened up 2010 with our official release of the The Broadband Bible, which is a 66 page pdf that compares ADSL and Wireless plans in South Africa. All in all, there are 35+ ISPs listed, and about 300+ different plans.
South Africa's confusing ADSL industry - Eve Dmochowska

Download the Broadband Bible (PDF) 892Kb Read more on "The Broadband Bible for January 2010 released"!

Afrihost offers cheapest bandwidth in South Africa

Afrihost, an ADSL re-seller became the cheapest bandwidth provider in South Africa when they launched a price of R29/Gb on their ADSL packages. Even though it is a limited offer, the drastic reduction in bandwidth prices will surely attract a lot of new customers.

We're bandwidth hungry in South Africa but the prices are unfortunately still quite high in general, if compared to the western world. So any substantial reduction in bandwidth prices by any ISP (Internet service provider) automatically receives a lot of attention.

Other ISPs

WebAfrica, a reputable ISP who is known for their good service are busy testing their own 1st-tier network and is expected to publish their new pricing structure early next year. Their 10Gb offering at R490 was always considered to be one of the cheapest ADSL products around but with Afrihost's new pricing structure at R29/Gb, there is just no comparison anymore.

Comparison
WebAfrica: R490 for 10Gb ADSL data package (R49/Gb)
Afrihost: R580 for 20Gb ADSL data package (R29/Gb)
So for only R90 more, you can get 10Gb extra at Afrihost. Great deal.

Axxess, another reputable smaller ISP offers a creative range of products and are cheaper than the bigger ISPs, but they offer nothing compared to Afrihost's cheap R29/Gb packages.

ISP loyalty goes out the window if the bandwidth prices drop through the floor! Luckily most ISPs offer month-to-month contracts which makes it easy to move from one ISP to another.

Here's a screenshot of Afrihost's R29/Gb ADSL packages

The R29/Gb products on Afrihost's site (the details may change once the limited offer has expired). Afrihost's bandwidth is provided via the IS (Internet Solutions) backbone. If you sign up for a R29/Gb package, the account will be locked-in and will remain at R29/Gb, even after the actual promotion expires.

High bandwidth prices in general are a hotly discussed topic in the South African technology world, so even though I'm not associated with Afrihost, I will always support any company that sends a signal to other ISPs to lower their prices too. Any price war is always good for the consumer!

I stay away from the larger ISPs. M-Web in particular reduced their prices recently but they're still comfortably one of the most expensive ISPs in South Africa. Read more on "Afrihost offers cheapest bandwidth in South Africa"!

SEACOM is live!

The 17000km SEACOM fibre-optic undersea cable finally went live today, providing south and east Africa with 1.28Tbps international bandwidth.

South Africa's deprived broadband community has waited for this day for quite some time, considering that the only other undersea cable linking us to the rest of the world is the Telkom owned SAT-3/SAFE cable with a much smaller bandwidth capacity.

Planned undersea cables servicing the African continent

The confirmed cables due to serve West, East and Southern Africa are:

1. SEACOM, East and Southern Africa, 1.28Tbps – 23 July 2009
2. GLO-1, West Africa, 640Gbps, ready for operations, 2009
3. TEAMS, East and Southern Africa, 120Gbps – Due September 2009
4. EASSy East and Southern Africa, 1Tbps – Due June 2010
5. MainOne, West Africa, 1.92Tbps, due 2010
6. WACS, West and Southern Africa, 3.8Tbps, Due 2011

Over the next three years, should all these fibre-optic submarine projects be delivered, the international bandwidth through undersea cables to Africa will increase to an incredible 12.4Tbps.

This increased international bandwidth will ensure a more competitive environment and undoubtedly lead to more affordable broadband prices for consumers.

Related links
SEACOM goes live - SEACOM
Seacom promises to unlock Africa's Internet potential - IOL
Seacom to boost capacity, but prices won't drop overnight - Engineering News Read more on "SEACOM is live!"!

SEACOM cable launch delayed

SEACOM announced today that the African undersea cable project has been delayed - due to pirate activity. The launch date has been moved from 27 June to 23 July 2009. Pirates have been ruling the east coast of Africa for quite some time now and cargo ships are hijacked on a regular basis.

Increase in international bandwidth

South Africans have been waiting in great anticipation for the arrival of this cable since it will substantially increase South Africa's international bandwidth capacity. Along with the other planned cables mentioned below, this will eventually drive down competition of bandwidth prices which will benefit consumers. Currently the cost of broadband in South Africa is significantly higher than in other countries.

Planned undersea cables servicing the African continent

The confirmed cables due to serve West, East and Southern Africa are:

1. SEACOM, East and Southern Africa, 1.28Tb/s – Due 23 July 2009
2. GLO-1, West Africa,640 Gb/s, ready for operations, 2009
3. TEAMS, East and Southern Africa, 120Gb/s – Due September 2009
4. EASSy East and Southern Africa, 1.Tb/s – Due June 2010
5. MainOne, West Africa, 1.92Tb/s, due 2010
6. WACS, West and Southern Africa, 3.8Tb/s, Due 2011

Read more on "SEACOM cable launch delayed"!

New WACS undersea cable agreement signed today

Today all South Africa's major telecommunication companies signed a formal agreement for the construction of the Western Cable System (WACS), to be completed in 2011.

The African continent is starved for international bandwidth, when compared to the rest of the world. We currently only have one fibre optic undersea cable serving South Africa, Telkom's SAT3/SAFE. The Seacom cable will land in June and any internet geek in this part of the world is automatically excited about the prospect. After all, we've been waiting for years for this to happen. According to World Wide Worx, bandwidth capacity for sub-Saharan Africa is expected to rise from 80 Gigabits per second in 2008 to 10 Terabits per second in 2011.

The confirmed new cables due to serve West, East and Southern Africa are:

1. SEACOM, East and Southern Africa, 1.28Tb/s – Due end June 2009
2. GLO-1, West Africa,640 Gb/s, ready for operations, 2009
3. TEAMS, East and Southern Africa, 120Gb/s – Due September 2009
4. EASSy East and Southern Africa, 1.Tb/s – Due June 2010
5. MainOne, West Africa, 1.92Tb/s, due 2010
6. WACS, West and Southern Africa, 3.8Tb/s, Due 2011

Related articles
New undersea cable part of 100-fold bandwidth increase (MyBroadband)
Costing Africa's new cable ties (BBC News) Read more on "New WACS undersea cable agreement signed today"!

SEACOM signs up Neotel as first big customer

Neotel signed up with SEACOM as their first big customer and was also appointed to actually manage the cable on behalf of SEACOM. The SEACOM undersea cable is expected to land in South Africa in June this year and will drastically extend the available international bandwidth available to the African continent.

I have an ADSL account that is on the SAIX backbone (uses Telkom's SAT3 cable, currently SA's ONLY undersea cable!) and I'm therefore subjected to inflated bandwidth prices. Naturally I'm licking my lips for SEACOM's arrival to see what kind of cheaper products my ISP, Webafrica, will come up with.

A drop in expected international bandwidth fees from 80% to 50% is a bit disconcerting though.

From Neotel scoops up cheaper bandwidth (Business Day - Lesley Stones):

Seacom president Brian Herlihy originally expected the cable to slash SA's bandwidth fees by 80%, but the threat of its arrival has already prompted Telkom to drop its own data fees by up to 80%. Herlihy still believes Seacom can charge at least 50% less for its bandwidth when it goes live in June or July.

Read more on "SEACOM signs up Neotel as first big customer"!

Broadband in South Africa

Compared to most other countries, South Africa's broadband speed is embarrassingly slow. What's even worse, is that the uptake is slow too.

There's about 4 million internet users in SA and roughly 1 million of them have broadband using ADSL. The slow uptake is largely due to a highly restrictive regulatory environment where the Communications Minister, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, spent the last few years protecting Telkom (only telecommunications company in South Africa until Neotel was introduced last year). She does not have a very good name in the SA telecoms environment, hence her nickname "Poison Ivy"! She has however indicated that she will be stepping down in 2009 so that quite frankly is a relief to everyone in the industry. She has stifled growth throughout her tenure as minister.

I'm writing this blog on a 384Kbps "broadband" ADSL connection (yup, 0,384Mbps!). I put that in quotes because 384Kbps does not really qualify as true broadband to begin with. The fastest ADSL connection you can get in SA is 4Mbps but it is quite expensive, when compared to other countries. In SA we have to pay a dubious "connection fee" or line rental every month for ADSL, then on top of that the subscription for bandwidth to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), where the cost per Gb is high. With slow speeds such as these, viewing video clips on sites like YouTube, or live streaming video is possible but the experience is woeful at best. A lot of buffering occurrs where you have to wait for the video to load and since we pay per Gb of usage, most people tend to avoid viewing video online to reduce cost.

The cost of international bandwidth is astronomical in SA. This is mainly because we only have one undersea cable that connects us to the world, the SAT3/SAFE cable which is owned by, you guessed it, Telkom. There is however a light at the end of the tunnel, the SEACOM undersea cable which is currently being built and is expected to land in SA in June this year. The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup will be held in South Africa and I'm sure this huge event had a lot to do with the rapid deployment of this new cable.

The bandwidth capacity of the SEACOM cable is much larger than the SAT3 cable and the owners have already released their pricing structure which results in roughly an 80% drop in the wholesale price of international bandwidth. This of course is fantastic news and it's therefore expected that the prices consumers are currently paying, will drop significantly. The big question is... WHEN?

According to the Internet Access in South Africa 2008 study, released by World Wide Worx, the following statistics were revealed:

• 16% jump in internet providers in the last year.
• ADSL dominance is at an end. Wireless broadband subscriptions outnumber ADSL 750,000 to 558,000 in 2008.
• Broadband subscriptions leapt from 818,000 in 2007, to 1,308,000 in 2008; a 60% growth rate.
• Over next five years the projected boost in internet access will see the amount of users grow from 4.5m in 2008 to 8.4m in 2013.
• Dial-up is on the decline: from its highest subscription level of 1.08m in 2004, it has now dropped to 700,000 in 2008.

Although these numbers are positive, the reality is that only 10% of South Africans have internet access. It's simply too expensive for the majority of the population. There are several countries in Africa with much weaker economies who beat us into oblivion as far as broadband penetration goes. Between December 2000 and 2008, South Africa added only about 2.7 million new subscribers to its internet user base, compared to the 10 million added by Nigeria, eight million by Egypt, seven million by Morocco and three million by Kenya.

Let's hope drastically reduced broadband prices are a reality before the end of the year. Read more on "Broadband in South Africa"!