Broadband getting faster, cheaper

I don't know if I recall this correctly, but Neotel is to have sole access to Seacom right?
4 years iirc. I would actually like it if there was a more open access approach to Seacom as there is with AWCC.
I feel that open access to all cables, in so doing allowing ISP's access to landing stations, would really be beneficial to our need for competition.
 
To the delight of many high-end users Neotel also introduced an uncapped NeoConnect Prime service, offering unlimited Internet usage, 2000 free on-net minutes, 120 free call minutes to Telkom phones, 100 free national SMSes and100 free on-net SMSes for R 999 a month.
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:sick:
 
Shake&Bake said:
I don't know if I recall this correctly, but Neotel is to have sole access to Seacom right?
4 years iirc. I would actually like it if there was a more open access approach to Seacom as there is with AWCC.
Click to expand...
Agree. I was not impressed with Neotel's launch products simply because their device doesn't even have an ethernet port, so I can't hook up my router etc. Everyone has some sort of LAN setup, so what were they thinking? Secondly, the internet connection drops whenever you make/receive a phone call. Reminds me of the dialup probs in the 90's! :)

So yeah... I sincerely hope Neotel is not the only player in the market that will have access to SEACOM, because unless the abovementioned problems are not fixed, I'll never switch to Neotel.
 
Globetrotter said:
Agree. I was not impressed with Neotel's launch products simply because their device doesn't even have an ethernet port, so I can't hook up my router etc. Everyone has some sort of LAN setup, so what were they thinking? Secondly, the internet connection drops whenever you make/receive a phone call. Reminds me of the dialup probs in the 90's! :)

So yeah... I sincerely hope Neotel is not the only player in the market that will have access to SEACOM, because unless the abovementioned problems are not fixed, I'll never switch to Neotel.
Click to expand...

Fully... I've posted with a vengeance about the shortfalls of Neotel, as have many other forumites.
Well at the end of the day, lets just get the bandwidth in here and have various suppliers vying to grab the market by the horns and russle things up.
Neotel is obviously grabbing at staws :rolleyes:
 
Shake&Bake said:
I don't know if I recall this correctly, but Neotel is to have sole access to Seacom right?
4 years iirc. I would actually like it if there was a more open access approach to Seacom as there is with AWCC.
I feel that open access to all cables, in so doing allowing ISP's access to landing stations, would really be beneficial to our need for competition.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly Neotel owns 50% of the Seacom cable. The rest is owned by other private local and offhsore companies and entities.
 
A friend of mine called Neotel and enquired about their 2.4Mbps line and a contract to go with it. He discovered the following:
Peak of 2.4Mbps down (we all know this)
average download speed 344kbps (kilobits, not kilobytes)
and I can't remember the upload details.
What it boils down to, is the wonderful 2.4Mbps line of theirs is almost as slow as Telkom's 384kbps line...
 
Vodacom ups it's speed and iburst prices come down... hardly a reaction imo... they (iburst) were losing business before neotel and Vodacom announced hsupa some time back... so far I don't see anything concrete, but I'm waiting in anticipation.
 
Just to clear up some uncertainty: Neotel in not a SEACOM shareholder, but will land the cable in South Africa on open access principles. No problems like with SAT3 is envisaged, and prices have been announced already which is access from JHB to Europe/India, so no additional costs associated with local traffic…
 
While the Neotel offering has some shortcomings, I think we should not lose focus on the bigger picture: It offers a sub-R 1000.00 uncapped offering and undercut current prices by around 50%. This is exactly what one would have liked to see from Neotel…setting new standards regarding pricing and usage limits.

It is easy to criticize, but to come up with alternative offerings may not be as easy. I know one can blindly ask for an uncapped 8 Mbps service for R 200.00 with extremely high service levels, but this is simply not feasible with current international bandwidth prices. This is not even feasible with the current technology available to them!
 
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rpm said:
While the Neotel offering has some shortcomings, I think we should not lose focus on the bigger picture: It offers a sub-R 1000.00 uncapped offering and undercut current prices by around 50%. This is exactly what one would have liked to see from Neotel…setting new standards regarding pricing and usage limits.

It is easy to criticize, but to come up with alternative offerings may not be as easy. I know one can blindly ask for an uncapped 8 Mbps service for R 200.00 with extremely high service levels, but this is simply not feasible with current international bandwidth prices. This is not even feasible with the current technology available to them!
Click to expand...

But then we have to ask why it was allowed to fall so far behind with the technology, which brings us back to public enemy number one (Telkom of course) all over again :D ...... just how long is it going to take for the technology to be upgraded enough for better internet access to become a reality? ...... very long in my opinion :(
 
froot said:
A friend of mine called Neotel and enquired about their 2.4Mbps line and a contract to go with it. He discovered the following:
Peak of 2.4Mbps down (we all know this)
average download speed 344kbps (kilobits, not kilobytes)
and I can't remember the upload details.
What it boils down to, is the wonderful 2.4Mbps line of theirs is almost as slow as Telkom's 384kbps line...
Click to expand...

They advertise fast internet, not broadband. They have no broadband offering as yet.
 
This may have been some time ago. Our recent testing showed local downlink speeds averaging at higher than 1 Mbps and international speeds of 300 - 700 Kbps. The have recently upgraded their network and the results certainly shows an improvement.

froot said:
A friend of mine called Neotel and enquired about their 2.4Mbps line and a contract to go with it. He discovered the following:
Peak of 2.4Mbps down (we all know this)
average download speed 344kbps (kilobits, not kilobytes)
and I can't remember the upload details.
What it boils down to, is the wonderful 2.4Mbps line of theirs is almost as slow as Telkom's 384kbps line...
Click to expand...
 
rpm said:
While the Neotel offering has some shortcomings, I think we should not lose focus on the bigger picture: It offers a sub-R 1000.00 uncapped offering and undercut current prices by around 50%. This is exactly what one would have liked to see from Neotel…setting new standards regarding pricing and usage limits.

It is easy to criticize, but to come up with alternative offerings may not be as easy. I know one can blindly ask for an uncapped 8 Mbps service for R 200.00 with extremely high service levels, but this is simply not feasible with current international bandwidth prices. This is not even feasible with the current technology available to them!
Click to expand...

I agree. Currently I'm paying R999 for a 384k connection, and thats excludes Telkom line rental. Furthermore, the NeoTel offering isn't shaped and doesn't have the 10 day rolling window like IS.
 
Alchemist said:
I agree. Currently I'm paying R999 for a 384k connection, and thats excludes Telkom line rental. Furthermore, the NeoTel offering isn't shaped and doesn't have the 10 day rolling window like IS.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are some Neotel users on the forum moaning about being shaped .... might be wrong :confused:
 
i don't why some people are complaining at this offering well at least the unshaped unlimited part anyway, thats the good part who cares about the rest of it.
 
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