zipcode,
The absolute cheapest you are going to get 64kbps Diginet and internet access is about R4000 per month. As far as I know, the cheapest access is provided by BCSNet (http://www.bcsnet.co.za), who used to be Siemens Business Services. When last I checked, they offered a 64kbps up/down local and 16kbps up/down international access solution for R2400 per month.
If they have a PoP relatively near by, the 64kbps Diginet line from Telkom will cost another R1600 per month. They get more expensive as the distance increases.
Altogether, that will get you 16kbps international traffic at R4000 per month, plus 64kbps local traffic. That doesn't seem like a good deal to me, but, as a consolation, you will get a fixed IP.
Going to other ISPs with better service level agreements and guaranteed bandwidth will cost you more. When last I heard, 64kbps local and international traffic from IS, combined with the cost of the line, will probably put you back about R7000 per month.
This leaves Diginet squarely in the small business with money to burn market segment.
If you can find an ISP near by that is willing to offer an analogue leased line solution, that's probably the best you can do for the time being. For around R1200 per month, you should be able to get 33.6kbps local and international permanent access, and a fixed IP if they are nice to you.
Given that on a Diginet line, for about R3000 more, you will still only have 16kbps international access, an analogue leased line is the best value for money of any of the solutions you have access to at the moment.
However, if you are a very conservative internet user and don't think that you will be using that much traffic, but need a permanent connection for e-mail, some surfing, banking, etc, there is one, high-cost, alternative to the above solutions.
You could go for TelkomInternet's satellite offering. I don't really recommend it, because it is overpriced, but it is an alternative to ADSL in areas where you just can't get access to it.
For R1350 per month, including connection and internet access, you can have 16kbps up, 64kbps down local and international access with a static IP, but capped at a pathetic 500MB.
At R1600 per month, you can get the same service, but with 32kbps up, 128kbps down and a 1GB cap. Another permutation offers 64kbps up, 256kbps down with a 2GB cap at around R2180 per month.
The premium service offers 128kbps up, 512kbps down with a 3GB cap, identical to ADSL, but priced at a steep R3380 per month.
If the volume cap is not such a problem for you, you might want to look at the 2GB, 256kbps option. That fits in with the budget you specified above and will give you permanent internet access, although having a low volume cap.
I should note one thing though, since this is satellite internet access, both local and international latency will be much higher than any of the other services available. The old 33.6kbps analogue leased line I used to be connected with actually offered better latency than that which you can expect from any satellite internet connection.
Also, satellite internet connections will black out completely in the event of a solar flare or geomagnetic storm, either of which will occur at least once or twice in any given year.
If latency and reliability are very important to you, stay very far away from satellite internet.
Willie Viljoen
Web Developer
Adaptive Web Development
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