The curious case of cheap satellite broadband in SA

Vox Telecom launched its satellite broadband service on 23 May 2012, promising fast, reliable and affordable broadband to people and businesses who cannot get ADSL or mobile broadband services.

Vox Telecom CEO Douglas Reed has made it clear that the service is not aimed at competing with ADSL, (or even fast mobile broadband products), but with speeds of up to 10Mbps and affordable data prices, it may just be an option for some city dwellers.

Satellite Internet access has traditionally been relatively slow and very expensive – not surprising when considering the high cost associated with launching a satellite and supporting such a service.

This has however changed with Vox Telecom’s Yahclick service which uses Ka-band technology. In simple terms it provides faster speeds and cheaper bandwidth.

Vox Telecom’s entry level product is priced below R200 per month with a usage limit of 1.5GB and a downlink speed of up to 512kbps. This pricing rivals both ADSL and mobile broadband offerings.

The following tables provide a basic pricing comparison between Vox Telecom’s satellite services and a few other broadband services in South Africa.

Despite the high speeds and relative affordability of Vox Telecom’s Yahclick service, the company highlighted that it is mainly aimed at people who can not get access to normal broadband services.

Considering the pricing and speed it is not surprising that many businesses have already contacted Vox Telecom to use the Yahclick products for backup connectivity and redundancy in case of fixed line downtime.

Vox Telecom expects to launch its commercial Yahclick service on 1 August 2012.

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