Number of users

Does anyone have any figures or stats about the number of users of dialup, ISDN, ADSL and most importantly MyWireless in SA?

The number of posts by Sentech users is approaching and almost overtaking the no. by the ADSL users on the myadsl forum so I was just wondering when how the actual subscriber numbers compare..

My first guess (for Sentech) would be about 200 users in Pretoria, 250 in Johannesburg area and 150 or so in Durban. I may be very conservative but I am only guessing..

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">250 in Johannesburg<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">oooo, you are waaayyyyyyyyyy out here.


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Approximately six weeks back one of Sentech's PR people mentioned in the press that they had passed 1000 users. Just thinking about a typical technology adoption curve (and that they ran TV ads about then), my gut feel would say that they must have between 2000 and 3000 users now, but that could be totally off, I really don't know.

What would be equally interesting, I think, is knowing the proportion breakdown between package types 128 256 and 512. Perhaps with a forum poll we could get a sample and extrapolate

I know of at least 6 new users just asof the beginning
of this month.

So it must be growing fast

I wouldn't be surprised if the figure has exceeded 4000 or 5000 already.

People are ditching telkom in hordes!

Nah - people aren't ditching Telkom in hordes !

As much as people bitch and whine about Telkom, they do provide a service millions are happy with and don't forget,with MyWireless, we are in a way linked to Telkom via thier infrastructure.

Without inside info, it's impossible to guess how many MyWireless users there currently are - it's a waste of time even speculating.

People are funny creatures - they don't change easily.

Once they have ISDN, they won't easily consider changing to ADSL or MyWireless - as long as there is no reason to consider changing.

Cost may become such a factor with time... but often not immediately.

I reckon that the market segmentation will take a year and more to actually happen.

The biggest drawback to MyWireless is that it is not yet as readily available as ADSL. And secondly, it is not yet a proven product over reasonable period - too risky to advise to offices without somebody competent to "nurse" the system.

I have 3 clients where I advise Internet Connectivity. 2 don't have Sentech coverage at all, the 3rd has. My recommendation: Although ADSL is a known rip-off, it is also known to work once Telkom has managed to install it, and it is cost effective compared to Telkom's other connectivety options (analog, ISDN, satellite and diginet).

Sentech is just too new in the market to guarentee any service. Signing up for a 2 year contract is too risky in the current IT environment considering the SNO bound to happen, Telkom possibly reducing rates in response to Sentech, as well as technological uncertainties on the radio-linking technology.

Reconsider in a years time.

But: If I had coverage at home where I could nurse the system if required, I would have considered MyWireless.

Best of luck to Sentech - we need the 2nd option!






South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.

From what I have seen, people are most scared of the 2 year contract and slow speeds. I guess the contract thing can be compared to the 3GB cap.

Maybe my numbers were way off yes. But then how come with the slowdowns (considering the 2000 people affected) we didnt or dont see a more rapid repair or announcement of any kind.

I think there are quite a few other opertators out there using technology similar to sentech, and may not be quite legal, not sure. Every now and again i hear of a new complex that offers this type of internet connectivity, i've seen brochurs regarding this. There might be a whole lot of people out there using this technology, and at much cheaper rates than sentech. So i think you have to take this into consideration if you're counting people on different types of connectivity.

Telkom - South Africa's Handbrake to progress.

I liked the Sentech option as a way to break from having a slow dialup via a landline.

I basically moved house from one with a phone (by default - renting) to another without a phone. I need the internet for my web design business, so I decided to give MyWireless a try.

I've been happy so far - I've been able to go online 24/7 since April 5 or something like that - for the most part,it's been at speeds of around 8 to 10k per second. At it's highest 14k and lowest when Sentech f'd up.
At R650 per month, I'd consider that a bargain.

My main consideration was price to performance ration

Price:
ADSL R1100 (line hire + good ISP) per month -- Also include the price of the installation and the modem
mywireless256 R850 per month



performance:
ADSL 3GB at 512kbps(if you are lucky) + F#^$ all at 20kbps per month
plus the added lead weights that come with port shaping and the proposed 10GB local cap.

MyWireless256:
at least 128kbps (+- 1.3GB a day totalling to 40GB a month) No Cap
up to 256kbps (+- 2.5GB a day totalling to 80GB a month) they may get upset if you abuse the connection.
I don't think it is a Issue, their is only so much you can download (unless you are into porn like noone)

I'm not too worried about latency, as I go to Organised Chaos to play games(can take my modem along just to show off)
International latency is better on Sentech than on ADSL.

For me their is no contest. I think most user would agree with me that these are the major considerations.

I think Telkom is in for a shock (if they care...they don't).

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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.