South African’s woke up to the exciting news today that MWEB, one of the countries’ largest Internet Service Providers, are launching long-awaited uncapped broadband packages.
“We realised there’s a major gap in the market. South Africa doesn’t experience the Internet like the rest of the world does. It’s a fantastic opportunity to change the Internet in SA,” said MWEB CEO Rudi Jansen.
This announcement will help fuel the recent surge in South African Internet usage – as detailed in the newly published Internet Access in South Africa 2010 study. The study found that the number of South African Internet users grew by 15% last year, from 4,6 million to 5,3 million, and is expected to exceed 6 million by the end of 2010 if current growth rates continue.
Broadband is central to this growth, with the number of South Africans accessing the Internet via broadband having grown by more than 50% in the last year, and wireless broadband having grown almost three times as fast as fixed line.
The study found several interrelated reasons behind the sudden growth, which had been somewhat stagnant in previous years. A major factor was the granting of Electronic Communications Network Service licenses to some 400 organisations. This had resulted in an increase in competition between smaller service providers and in turn put pressure on the large telecoms companies to improve their offerings.
The study also found that many SME’s had been migrating from dial up connectivity to broadband, and giving previously unconnected staff members access to the Internet. Organizations were also found to increasingly provide staff with 3G cards.
A third factor was the launch of the SEACOM undersea cable, which MWEB will be utilizing for international bandwidth. It is expected that the introduction of other undersea cables such as Eassy and WACS will cause prices to drop even further.
While many were overjoyed with the news, others have been dissecting the Terms and Conditions to find out exactly what the MWEB offer entails. For domestic usage the service will be shaped – with an unshaped option available for business usage. “There are acceptable use policies in place. If you’re going to run your business with massive amounts of piracy, video downloads, that’s not what this is for.” Said Jansen
Overall however, it is certain that this move will have a big effect on connectivity in South Africa. “It will change users’ online behaviour, we’ve seen it wherever we operate in the world.” Said Jansen. “For the competitors, they’re free to follow us – they’re free to be stuck in the dark ages. It’s up to them; it’s a difficult one to speculate. I hope it changes the market for everybody and our biggest hope is that it brings down the local cost.”
MIHSWAT is part of the Naspers group. MWEB is a subsidiary of Naspers.
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