![]() South Africa doesn’t experience the Internet like the rest of the world does. “We realized there’s a major gap in the market. MWEB, one of South Africa’s largest residential broadband service providers, last week “threw down the gauntlet” and unveiled an unlimited broadband option among its various rate plans. South Africa is the latest country on the way to finally discarding Internet Overcharging schemes like usage caps and usage-based billing. Phillip Dampier MaBroadband Speed, Competition, Data Caps, MWEB (South Africa), Public Policy & Gov't, Video 5 Comments “I’m looking forward to it,” Jansen says. The Internet visionary wants to transform South African broadband away from its current expensive pricing model and throw the Internet wide open. ![]() Now the nation’s semi-privatized, 39% state-owned phone company Telkom is widely expected to stop the erosion of its own broadband customers by adopting flat rate broadband service itself.įor Jansen, that would represent a welcome move. “We are running ahead of our business plan and all our products are profitable,” Jansen tells TechCentral. Today, MWeb’s uncapped broadband is a runaway success, with more than 50 percent of its customers switching to the meter-free service. But MWeb president Rudi Jansen dismisses the notion limiting broadband is the way to go, suggesting usage caps and meters are more about profits than serving customers. The company’s move to unlimited, flat rate service was heavily criticized by competing providers, who enforce draconian usage limits and have tried to convince customers the global trend was moving towards metered broadband. South Africans won uncapped broadband service one year ago tomorrow when an upstart provider - MWeb - unveiled its “Free the Web” campaign, delivering usage-limit free Internet access to customers across South Africa. These fees exclude satellite dish, modem and installation fees and are subject to a 12-month contract.Phillip Dampier MaBroadband Speed, Competition, Consumer News, Data Caps, MWEB (South Africa), Net Neutrality, Wireless Broadband Comments Off on South Africa Celebrates One Year of Uncapped Broadband Tomorrow Rivals’ Money Party Ruined 2Mbit/s and 4Mbit/s options costs R1 750/month and R2 365/month respectively. The entry level, 1Mbit/s uncapped satellite service costs R915/month, while the top-end, 10Mbit/s product is R3 075/month. “Even with the more recent aggressive roll-out of fibre infrastructure in South Africa, it has only incrementally increased the available services to outlying areas,” he said. In the statement, MWeb Business product head Hennie van Tonder said demand for VSat Internet has been particularly high from the mining, agricultural, construction and education sectors. The uncapped options are available in speeds ranging from 1Mbit/s to 10Mbit/s and are priced at a level to make VSat the “preferred connectivity option for businesses that have high Internet data requirements and no fixed-line alternatives available”, MWeb said in a statement. ![]() This includes those on the outskirts of the country’s main metropolitan centres. The new products, it said, are aimed at users in remote parts of South Africa that are not well served with Internet infrastructure. MWeb, which pioneered uncapped fixed-line broadband in South Africa, on Monday announced it was extending the uncapped model to its VSat-based satellite products. MWeb Business, a division of Naspers-owned Internet service provider MWeb, has launched a suite of satellite broadband products that provide uncapped Internet access to South African consumers.
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