Fibre : Bellairs, Northriding ?

[Morphza]

Just got a message from our Body Corporate... Fibrehoods has surveyed our complex (Blandford road - Noordhang side) and they've given us a proposal.... installation should complete 2-3 weeks from proposal agreement - Apparently open access network, so can go with anyone of their ISP offerings.

 

[Deanoblado]

Great news. The competition is high in the area. Metrofibre also offers their services as an ISP. They will want to install into the complexes asap even when the fibre outside is not complete yet.

 

[Deanoblado]

Has anyone started looking at packages on these networks? what is looking competitive at this point?

 

[Morphza]

Here are vumatel's ISP options (with costs) -- https://vuma.venturanext.se/Service...fHJPjXfqXCLuseM0RS1srx5%2bYGR9NSk7R1Wh7O4M%3d

 

[Dolby]

Great news. The competition is high in the area

I never understood why it wasn't the at the start and they seemed to target affluent suburbs. The money is in the volume, and there's 1,000s of customers within a few KM down Bellairs.

 

[Phr33Dumb]

Ok Here's a dumb question: So Fiberhoods are coming, and Metrofiber is currently chopping up Bellairs drive (and the water pipes), but does anyone know if Vuma plans on putting down some pipe while the trenches are already there? We're on 107% on their map.

Ether way, first one to light up gets my money.

 

[Morphza]

No company is going to allow someone else to use the trenches that they've dug... as there would be no cost replacement... ie "dig your own holes".... Now according to what i've read Fibrehoods were actually bought by Vumatel last year... so vumatel is therefore technically working in the area.

Fibrehoods are deploying cables along telephone poles to get fibre into areas faster and cheaper than trenching.

 

[flash99]

Had a look at the progress from the bottom of Bellairs yesterday after being away since Friday Morning. I saw cable clamps on the gum poles which are mainly on the one side and the same clamps on the lamp posts on the opposite side of the road. Also saw some cables running over clamps and into the ground.

If I came in second with my cables, I would try to offer a better price. Just saying

 

[Deanoblado]

Fibrehoods overhead deployment is way neater and so much faster than trenching, only drawback is the poles and cables are always visible but not such a big problem if there is light poles already in the area.

 

[Phr33Dumb]

Just received a mail from our body corporate this morning. Our complex is getting fiber. After a few tweets back and forth i got the following (And assume it will be the same for other complexes in Bellairs drive. Fiberhoods are doing the deployment, but the line management and packages will be through Vumatel.

Apparently we're looking at end April, biginning May.

 

[Dolby]

After a few tweets back and forth i got the following (And assume it will be the same for other complexes in Bellairs drive. Fiberhoods are doing the deployment, but the line management and packages will be through Vumatel

We got a message saying Initio360 and an option for a point ONLY or a point and package. I just took the point at this stage

 

[Deanoblado]

How does fibrehoods get the fibre into your house? do the cables run outside the wall or do they use existing ducting if you have that option?

 

[Morphza]

Fibrehoods using conduits along the walls (under paving where required)... for our complex they will run conduits along the top of the walls and up into each unit (complex will then paint them the complex colours to hide them a bit)

 

[flash99]

The aesthetics of this Fibrehoods installation is sounding like it is going to be rather industrial. I understand that some may want fibre at any cost but I'm just imagining those conduits running on the walls and then more aerial connections to the roof tops. Makes me think of the old way the phone lines used to run to insulators on the corrugated roof tops.

After Telkom moved the telephone cables underground, we now have gum poles like the plots used to have in the area. It also seems as if there are going to be cables running up both side of the road. I never thought I would says this but it's a pity that we could not use the existing Telkom cable infrastructure as it is invisible.

Oh well am hoping that we can at least get a neater installation in our complex


I was also wondering to myself if the trees on the roadside aren't going to be a problem with the cables that run through them.

 

[Deanoblado]

On Bellairs Drive they are busy trimming the trees, i assume because of the fibrehoods rollout. But my complex has decided not to go with FH because of the way they lay the cables outside. We have underground ducting where our ADSL lines run through and this is where the new fibre lines will go as well( at least we hope at this point)

 

[Dolby]

.

Tending to agree.

I think North Riding may start looking like those illegal connections off Beyers going into Zandspruit

 

[insom]

The aesthetics of this Fibrehoods installation is sounding like it is going to be rather industrial. I understand that some may want fibre at any cost but I'm just imagining those conduits running on the walls and then more aerial connections to the roof tops. Makes me think of the old way the phone lines used to run to insulators on the corrugated roof tops.

After Telkom moved the telephone cables underground, we now have gum poles like the plots used to have in the area. It also seems as if there are going to be cables running up both side of the road. I never thought I would says this but it's a pity that we could not use the existing Telkom cable infrastructure as it is invisible.

Oh well am hoping that we can at least get a neater installation in our complex


I was also wondering to myself if the trees on the roadside aren't going to be a problem with the cables that run through them.

It seems like our options are either Fibrehoods or Metrofibre.

A post higher up said Fibrehoods lets us choose from Vuma's ISP options.

Does anyone know what options there are for Metrofibre? If its only Greencom (the only link I can find), then the prices are horrible compared to the Vumatel options.

Just a quick look at the cheapest option on Greencom: R684/month gives you 10mb uncapped.
For the same price on Vuma's site you can get 20mb uncapped.

Greencom 100mb uncapped is R2000/month.
A quick scan of Vuma and there's multiple options for 100mb uncapped for R1000.

I think having choice and paying half the price for the same service is worth the aesthetic "cost" of the lines on the walls.

Unless Metro has different prices I haven't found. I looked on their site, but don't see any prices, or links to their available ISP's. The link between Metro is from 2015. So I don't know if that's changed. The prices above are from Greencom's current site.

 

[KevinLloyd]

It seems like our options are either Fibrehoods or Metrofibre.

A post higher up said Fibrehoods lets us choose from Vuma's ISP options.

Does anyone know what options there are for Metrofibre? If its only Greencom (the only link I can find), then the prices are horrible compared to the Vumatel options.

Just a quick look at the cheapest option on Greencom: R684/month gives you 10mb uncapped.
For the same price on Vuma's site you can get 20mb uncapped.

Greencom 100mb uncapped is R2000/month.
A quick scan of Vuma and there's multiple options for 100mb uncapped for R1000.

I think having choice and paying half the price for the same service is worth the aesthetic "cost" of the lines on the walls.

Unless Metro has different prices I haven't found. I looked on their site, but don't see any prices, or links to their available ISP's. The link between Metro is from 2015. So I don't know if that's changed. The prices above are from Greencom's current site.

Be patient on the MetroFibre network, it takes a month or two during build phase and then they go open access that gives you access to other ISP's such as the below who have far better pricing:

Rocketnet
Firestream
Afrihost
Home-Connect

 

[Dolby]

This is who approached us :

http://www.initio360.co.za/

Packages also seem expensive, but they run of Metro Fiber, I think ?

All packages are symmetrical and uncapped :

10mbps R665.00
25mbps R960.00
50mbps R1,250.00
100mbps R1,800

 

[insom]

Be patient on the MetroFibre network, it takes a month or two during build phase and then they go open access that gives you access to other ISP's such as the below who have far better pricing:

Rocketnet
Firestream
Afrihost
Home-Connect

Cool, thanks for the info! Lots more options than I thought.