Ask Afrihost CEO Gian Visser anything

[Afrihost-Gian]

Would broadband prices in South Africa ever compete with international rates?

I believe that in many cases they already are. Especially with what the Rand exchange rate is at now. Is there space for improvement? Absolutely! But if you look at what our average broadband prices are today compared to what they were 7 years ago I believe we have already made some dinosaur sized strides forward!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

TL; DR

Have you made a strategic business decision that was ever premised on myBB members' discussions on these forums?

Absolutely! We spend hours and hours reading the MyBB threads such as this one, and we take very careful note of what the members are saying and discussing. I believe that MyBB members and readers are tech influencers and if you can be the ISP of choice of the white hot centre of the market you are in that fire will spread outwards. Don't tell any of the other ISPs though ;-))

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

With Afrihost looking to pioneer the internet age in South Africa, How would you view net neutrality and would you support this as an ISP?

I am a personally a supporter of net neutrality. I believe that it is dangerous to allow companies to pay for faster traffic to their products or websites over and above their competitors. I believe this goes against the very premise of the Internet. However, the definition of net neutrality can be completely different depending on who you are talking to. Also some of the unique challenges we face in the internet landscape in South Africa make some aspects of net neutrality challenging for SA ISPs.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

How is Afrihost tracking against its set revenue targets over the last 5 years?

We have been very blessed with tremendous growth, both in client numbers and in revenue, over the last 5 years and have tracked well against our targets.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Hi
Will you offer us the ability to transfer mobile data between phones that are on the Afrihost APN?
Kind regards

This is an idea that we have had for a while, and it is definitely something that we would love to do at some point. There are a few challenges with this model for us that we have to overcome, but rest assured we are working on it.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Do you honestly believe South Africa's economy will ever recover? Or are you on a slippery downward slope?

I'm an optimist by nature and I sincerely believe in the resilience and ingenuity of South Africans. We're tough. We're going to make it through and prosper!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

What is the new "ground breaking" technology that we should all buy the minute it comes to market?

Nuclear powered batteries that could charge your smartphone, computer or car forever. That would be a game changer.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

If you could ask Vodacom's CEO anything, what would that question be?

Could I have my MyBroadband IT Person of the Year Award back please? ;-))

Seriously though, I would love to know what the real average cost of providing a GB of mobile data is right now, and what it would take to drop that cost dramatically.

I'd also ask him what strategic move he would take if he didn't have to answer to shareholders who expect a certain return on their investment.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

There will be no doubt a lot of technical and account related questions so I thought I`d ask something a bit out of the norm.

Has Afrihost ever thought of using decommissioned hardware for non financial gain projects like SETI@Home and what is the general consensus around intelligent life outside our solar system from Afrihosts management?

I can't speak for my fellow directors regarding their views on intelligent life outside our solar system (hard enough to find that in our own offices ;-))

However, given the size of the universe and the number of planets in existence there seems to me a fairly decent probability that intelligent life exists elsewhere. There are about 100 Earth like planets in the universe for every grain of sand in the world. Read that sentence again. Dang! Having said that the Fermi Paradox completely stumps me. As he basically asks: 'Then where is everybody?'.

For a great read on this go and check out http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html . Great reading. But I warn you if you click that link and start reading the article you will forget all about this thread and we won't see you again soon - So goodbye!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

What do you splurge on in your personal capacity?

I splurge on my wife. She doesn't like splurging on herself so I've decided to take on that challenging responsibility ;-)

I personally love headphones and earphones. Every kind. So I have been known to do a bit of splurging there.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

How many hours sleep do you get in an average night?

As a rule: Not enough.

In the early years of Afrihost we breathed, lived and ate work. Used to sleep about 3-4 hours a night. Was fantastic training for 4 young kids!

Currently I probably sleep around 5 hours a night. Fortunately I don't seem to need too much and sometimes sleep less. However, I do appreciate the occasional sleep in!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

What is Afrihost's official position on urban tolling (e-tolls) in Gauteng?

I am specifically and unequivocally avoiding this question

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

How much bandwidth do you have at the Afrihost office?

I’m probably going to get this wrong, and be skewered by my tech guys, but I am pretty sure we have 1Gbps fibre terminating directly onto our broadband network. All I know is I can generally download faster than I can think of things to download!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Why do you feel that your customers should pay 100% of the monthly subscription if they only get 50% of what they pay for? (it like paying full price for a beer but I only give you half)

That shouldn’t happen. Part of our philosophy is that you should get what you pay for – and we stand by that. However, it depends on the specifics. Sometimes, unfortunately, people's perception and expectation of what they are entitled to can be unrealistic - like wanting exactly 10Mbps from a 10Mbps line 24 hours a day, every day. Sometimes it’s really impossible to meet that expectation due to a huge variety of factors that are simply out of our control. For example the real costs for an ISP for 10Mbps of one-to-one bandwidth (including IPC, national backhaul and international links) varies between R6,900 and R10,000 per 10 Mbps. And that's before other fixed costs such as salaries, rent, lights and water among others are factored in! Now look at what ISPs actually charge their clients for 10Mbps. Add to this the unreliability of some exchanges, actual copper line issues and suddenly the mismatch becomes clear.

We try to be as clear and transparent as we can be about how things work so our clients have a realistic expectation of what they will get. Sometimes we don't get this right. However, if we promised something tangible and didn’t deliver, then you should be upset and we should make that right.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Hello,

What is your favorite food?

Burgers.

I. Just. Can't. Help. Myself.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

What would you like to be?? A small fish in a big ocean or a big fish in a small river/pond... Why??

Small fish in a big ocean. No question! The big ocean at least gives me the opportunities, space and potential to grow and become a bigger fish than I ever would or could have been in that small pond.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Can I have a pony?

Absolutely. Drop me a PM with your parents' contact details and I’ll have a stern chat with them about this travesty of justice!

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Can I trade 20gb off my capped account for 2gb mobile data please?

Love this concept! I know my DevTeamTM are probably reading this and screaming “NOOOOO, Gian, don’t say it!” but when I close my eyes and imagine it, having one single data account that seamlessly and easily combines both mobile and fixed data in the right ratios would be really, really cool. I have no idea how something like that would work though. But I love the idea

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

Hi Gian,

What's ur take on the future of dual sim phones in SA? Are we going to see MTN and Vodacom having dual sim devices anytime soon?

Dual SIM phones definitely have a role in SA. If you look at the rest of Africa, it’s the norm. It just makes sense to be able to choose who you want to have data with and who you want voice services from. Or to have multiple services, if you choose. I often see people carrying around two (or even three) phones or SIMS and think how painful that must be.

However, I don't think the network operators are going to rush to introduce dual SIM phones unfortunately. I think the phones, in their eyes, would just make it too easy for their clients to use and switch to another network operator. But I don't know to be honest.

 

[Afrihost-Gian]

If you were put into the position of Minister of Communications, what would your top 3 goals be?

If I went into politics I’d only want to be the President!

But if I had to settle for Minister of Communications on my way up I’d prioritise:

1. Free internet for schools (all schools!)
2. Sharing and allocation of Spectrum ASAP.
3. Attractive incentives and partnerships for telecoms infrastructure players to radically improve our broadband penetration (esp via Fibre).