Fibre internet in Gauteng on Openserve (Telkom) network

[zeely]

Until they include the phone line and increase upload, doubt many sensible people will hop on the fibre hype

what???

people have been asking for unbundled ADSL ever since it was launched. Now suddenly everyone is saying they want a phone line?

 

[Johnatan56]

Until they include the phone line and increase upload, doubt many sensible people will hop on the fibre hype

I don't want a phone line, VoIP is good enough for me. Am already doing it on ADSL. I only use the analogue line for calling Telkom.

 

[Fintan]

Seems like the coverage map has been updated again, back to what it was before

 

[dualmeister]

Seems like the coverage map has been updated again, back to what it was before

Saw that.

 

[User4456]

This is great news in general. I've just moved into Faerie Glen behind the PnP Hyper and cannot wait to get fibre when it's available at a reasonable rate! And thanks jcheek for all the detailed updates!!

Side question, does anyone here have the number for the Telkom techie that roams Faerie Glen? I need to get this guy to come fix my ADSL line, having packet loss issues lately. (It's impossible to log a fault the traditional way...)

 

[jcheek]

Seems like the coverage map has been updated again, back to what it was before

Saw that.

Same my end - we have been "un-planned" ! :-(
Geez - well, we all knew the State Of The Nation Address was gonna be bad, but I didn't suspect it would lead to such pessimism!

As an aside, I have sometimes noticed that the Telkom coverage map renders differently (or sometimes, not at all) on Internet Explorer as opposed to Google Chrome. Best to check both if the answers don't make sense.
But in this case it makes no difference - we have been wiped off the map (temporarily, I hope! ).

 

[jcheek]

I've just moved into Faerie Glen behind the PnP Hyper and cannot wait to get fibre when it's available at a reasonable rate!

I'm literally just a few streets away from you. Welcome to the area!

And thanks jcheek for all the detailed updates!!

Pleasure mate - hope FTTH rolls around to your neck of the woods real soon.
Meantime .. try LTE! Either together with, or completely in place of, that horrid ADSL!

 

[jcheek]

... we have been wiped off the map (temporarily, I hope! ).

....aaaaand we're back!

As an aside : One of those "planned" patches on the easternmost side is very close to another interested forumite:

 

[Fintan]

....aaaaand we're back!

As an aside : One of those "planned" patches on the easternmost side is very close to another interested forumite:

View attachment 191415

Yeah, it is very close to me too!

 

[DWPTA]

Well by the time they reach my area FTTH should be reasonable priced.

 

[Bursty-dude]

Fibre is being laid down Garsfontein Road and spotted on the corner of Garsfontein and Selati Street.
That is about 700m from my place.

 

[jcheek]

Fibre is being laid down Garsfontein Road and spotted on the corner of Garsfontein and Selati Street.
That is about 700m from my place.

Interesting! Thanks Bursty-dude.
Hopefully it's also FTTH/FTTB and destined to connect you real soon



I see that that intersection is somewhat outside the Telkom FTTH rollout happening in the greater Hillcrest/Brooklyn area, but that doesn't necessarily mean much, since it seems - as in my case - that the actual installation on the ground may precede the 'planning' phase as reflected on the coverage map

 

[genetic]

Thanks for the detailed info jcheek.

 

[jcheek]

Thanks for the detailed info jcheek.

Pleasure, genetic, and thanks for the feedback.
I hope there are other folks (also?) enjoying the updates.

Hopefully this thread will get a lot busier in months to come as people start to try the Telkom-based FTTH product out for real.

 

[Bursty-dude]

No probs!

Everyone I have spoken to at Telkom has said that our area (Maroelana) is not even under consideration for fibre.
Heck, we don't even have the option of 20/40Mb VDSL here (also the "no consideration" BS) and have been stuck with "10Mb" ADSL that can do a best of 7Mb on a good day and 5 on average.

I have no idea if it is Telkom or one of the other fibre providers, but will see if I can find some info from the workers when I get a gap to stop there and ask.

 

[jcheek]

I have no idea if it is Telkom or one of the other fibre providers, but will see if I can find some info from the workers when I get a gap to stop there and ask.

Also see if you can spot maker's names on the HDPE sub-duct or the main fibre-optic cable, as per the pics in my OPs. Telkom's stuff is clearly branded "Telkom" and that should give you a solid clue.

 

[Bursty-dude]

Just.drove past and it is DFA that is laying fibre.
From Garsfontein road down Selati. But it looks as though it is fibre for the businesses on Selati as it stops before the houses across from Pro Arte school.

And that is about 500m from my place.

 

[dualmeister]

And I'm back on the coverage map again.

 

[jcheek]

MWeb formally joins the FTTH-over-Telkom fray

So as many MyBB folks will have seen, good old Naspers has formally joined the FTTH party, offering their ISP services over Telkom's FTTH infrastructure.

For completeness, here's the table of MWeb's pricing (reproduced from the corresponding MyBroadband article:



Some points of interest:

• There's the (same) small difference in cost between 20, 40 and 100Mbps : just R100 for each step. Maybe not that surprising since there's zero difference in the actual infrastructure. WebAfrica's pricing reflects the same thing.
• The monthly daytime data limits are pretty high compared to Telkom and WebAfrica's offerings at the same price points.
• Currently, MWeb are offering a "1+1" scheme for night-time data, ie whatever your monthly daytime allowance is, you get the same amount again to use between midnight and 6AM. MWeb do say that this might not always be the case.
• There's no mention of a compulsory 2-year contract, though I'm sure it must be in the T&C's somewhere ... (Edit: It is. Compulsory 2-year commitment)

Here is the pre-approval document that MWeb is using to sign people up for their fibre-based ISP services delivered over Telkom's FTTH infrastructure : View attachment MWeb FTTH proposal - March 2015.pdf

The deal includes a Zyxel NBG-418N Wi-Fi router (not NGB-418 - typo in the MWeb document), which they throw in at no charge if you sign up before 31 March 2015.

I have to admit, the MWeb pricing looks reasonably sharp (in FTTH context), which is surprising for them.
Makes me wonder if there's a catch, like the familiar "excludes FTTH line .. "
Edit : There's no catch. It's all-in.

Edit (24 Apr 2015) : Subsequently, MWeb have started to waive the installation fee and/or throw in a DStv Explora decoder as a sweetener on some of the faster/larger package options. So the available deals now look like this:

 

[jackshiels]

The Mweb prices are sky high. We are busy choosing a FTTH provider for Constantia, and now I'm not so sure I want Telkom.

How can DFA offer 50Mb down/25Mb up with 200GB for R899 (including phone) when Telkom charges such exorbitant rates? It's shocking how far Telkom will take things! DFA seems like the best choice atm.

EDIT: look what I found - Vox Telecom is now offering Telkom FTTH services too: https://www.voxtelecom.co.za/fibre-to-home-telkom#

Line rentals as follows:

Telkom Fibre Link Up to 20Mbps R639
Telkom Fibre Link Up to 40Mbps R739
Telkom Fibre Link Up to 100Mbps R849

Then data (doubtlessly where they make their money)

Fat Pipe Fibre 50GB R170
Fat Pipe Fibre 75GB R252
Fat Pipe Fibre 100GB R328
Fat Pipe Fibre 150GB R485
Fat Pipe Fibre 200GB R639
Fat Pipe Fibre 250GB R780
Fat Pipe Fibre 300GB R925
Fat Pipe Fibre 400GB R1215
Fat Pipe Fibre 500GB R1485
Fat Pipe Fibre 1TB R2550

Still expensive, but at least it gives an idea of the line rental rates.