BROADBANDCheap, uncapped broadband is here |
MWEB is the first major ISP to cut prices significantly.
South Africa's second-largest consumer ISP, MWEB, has announced significant changes to its ADSL products, with a full range of uncapped packages. It has taken some flack in recent months for not bringing prices down yet, and many in the market suggested an aggressive move was likely.
It says it is the first major player in the market to offer "uncapped ADSL on a significant scale".
In the lead up to today's launch, it has been running the "Free the Web" campaign, which it used to highlight the frustrations of the limited internet in South Africa. It promised we would be able to use the internet like those in Europe and the US.
MWEB has launched six data-only ADSL packages.
For consumers, there are three for the different line speeds available in the country. A 384Kbps service will cost R219, a 512Kbps R299 and a 4Mbps R539 per month. Businesses will pay R499 per month for a 384Kbps line, R699 for a 512Kbps one and R1999 for a 4Mbps line. These prices are for the ISP component, and you will still need to pay Telkom (JSE:TKG) a line rental fee. Consumer (residential) services are, however, still shaped.
Rudi Jansen, MWEB CEO says "this offer will enable South Africans to access and download content on scale never seen before. We have a real chance to lift ourselves from broadband mediocrity in South Africa, or we risk falling into broadband oblivion".
It says "these services are available on any line rental package available from Telkom, even Telkom's Closer subscription bundles."
However, it will also offer line-inclusive packages (rental included): R349, R599 and R899 per month "for line speeds of 384Kbps, 512 Kbps and 4Mbps respectively. The all-inclusive offerings for businesses will cost R629 for the 384kbps option, R999 for the 512Kbps option and R2 259 for the 4Mbps package."
All business products are unshaped, and as in the rest of the world, no bandwidth caps will apply to any of these services.
The business-grade services offer static IP addresses which is significant as this will enable businesses to host servers or virtual private network connections using ADSL.
The MWEB Business packages are also fully managed. Andre Joubert, GM of MWEB Business says that "If something goes wrong, MWEB's support engineers will remotely log on to fix a router or send an engineer on-site at no additional charge, and also liaise with Telkom, for their portion of the fault."
MWEB will use both SAT3 and SEACOM to provide international bandwidth.
Its recently achieved Tier-1 ISP status with the migration of its customers to its own IPC network, thereby limiting its reliance on other Tier-1 providers for its bandwidth needs. This new IPC link offers the service provider will have more control over its ADSL network.
"We will also be utilising bandwidth on both the SAT3 and SEACOM international cable systems in order to have full redundancy on our international bandwidth," says Jansen.
"We signed up with SEACOM in March for a long-term agreement and we are purchasing significant bandwidth as SEACOM provides MWEB with a very attractive solution for international network capacity, at the best price currently available to the South African market."
The ISP will consolidate its ADSL offerings into a simpler portfolio. "On the consumer side, a number of capped packages prevail, but these will enjoy additional cost-savings. For example: 1GB no frills (R89) now costs R69, 2GB data cap only will be migrated to 3GB at R145 and 1GB all-inclusive 384Kbps will be migrated to 2GB at R199."
Write to Hilton Tarrant: hilton@moneyweb.co.za
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