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SA fixed-line focus shifts to speed [ITWeb](ITWeb Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) In the past, the central tenet of ADSL and fixed broadband in SA was always the amount of data consumed - today it is speed. South Africans' "fear" of downloading and the culture of megabyte counting is starting to subside as the debate shifts to speed amid ongoing advancements in capacity and pricing. This is according to industry observers, who say ADSL –still a niche service, primarily used by SA's "haves" and small and medium enterprises – is changing shape. Tim Wyatt-Gunning, CEO of Web Africa – which on Friday loaded (http://www.webafrica.co.za/midnight/?utm_source=mybb&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=dplus50tb-mybb) each of its 12 500-odd capped customers' accounts with 50TB of free data to use between midnight and 6am during August – believes SA has this year started to see data consumption align with "first world standards". Using the UK as a case in point, Wyatt-Gunning says developed countries have a different mind-set when it comes to ADSL. "They don't even think about it before they download – whereas here we're used to thinking twice. But we are now getting to the situation where people have more freedom to download. "[Internet service providers (ISPs)] are giving customers massive increases in data compared to this time just a year ago. For us, it has tripled across the board, while for high-end users it's probably gone up by a factor of 10." Ovum analyst Richard Hurst says, in the past, the central tenet of ADSL and fixed broadband in SA has been the amount of data consumed. "In this part of the world, we pay for the amount downloaded as opposed to other both developed and developing parts of the world – where the issue revolves around speed and not consumption. However, the increased investment in both international and local fibre has seen consumers and enterprise start to move towards the notion of consuming more." OpenWeb founder and CEO Keoma Wright says the ISP has seen a significant increase in data usage over the last year, with its top three uncapped users' monthly consumption coming in at 1.7TB, 1.4TB and 1.2TB respectively. He says the increase in customers' data use can be attributed to the fact that their connections are a lot faster than what they were a year ago. ADSL titbits:* Web Africa says the amount of Download Plus GBs used in June 2014 was around 71 000GB, while expected (straight line) Download Plus usage in August 2014 is about 177 000GB.* 50TB of data equates to downloading around 4 200 HD movies.* Downloading Game of Thrones seasons one to four in HD uses around 23.5GB of data, so 50TB is at least 2 100 complete seasons.* Telkom has 948 868 ADSL subscribers.* Telkom has 16 588 fibre distribution points in SA.* Telkom has deployed over 147 000km of fibre in SA.* Download Plus is an add-on product for capped packages, whereby customers can buy data at reduced rates to use between midnight and 6am. Vox Telecom executive head of network and operations, Shane Chorley, says increase in data consumption by local ADSL users has indeed increased dramatically. "Over and above that, we believe users should now have the ability to have full throughput speed, combined with an unshaped experience. This will allow users to enjoy the full experience on new age applications such as IPTV. "The challenge with uncapped solutions is that they offer a 'one size fits all' methodology per line size, which results in users not having access to the best speeds and Internet experience." cut IP connect (IPC) costs (../index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70382:IPC-cut-heralds-price-war) for the third time in two years. IPC is the wholesale product through which third-party ISPs connect to Telkom's network. In SA, the cost of IPC has been said to be a major inhibitor to growing broadband, with the Independent Communications Authority of SA positioning it as "the single largest cost component faced by competing ISPs in providing choice to the end-user for fixed-line ADSL services". In April, analysts predicted the latest IPC price reduction may trigger a price war between ISPs, but Wright says the cost is still too high. "We are trying our very best [to bring data consumption in line with first world standards] but unfortunately Telkom is still being greedy with their IPC costs. Once they lower these further, we will be able to lower our pricing even further and add a lot more value." Hurst says, in general, ISPs have been quick to start passing on the benefits of investments in fibre and lower cost of data. Chorley notes that, as ISPs upgrade their networks, Vox believes the last mile (../index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60406) is now the biggest challenge for end-users. Data use growth at Web Africa: (c) 2014 ITWeb Limited. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |