Fibre internet in Gauteng on Openserve (Telkom) network

[Blubiree]

Shortly after my previous post, I received another email from a Telkom/gated community representative (After reading some of the newer posts in this thread, I still had a few additional questions - like whether I needed to fill in any forms to officially cancel my connection once the 2-month trial expires, before I switch over to another ISP).

The rep said the following:

No, if you are in Promo Period and want to move over to a different ISP after, no need for a form, just pop us an email requesting to be ceased. If you still want a billable package you will be sent a form.

Below I made an error – you can take month to month, however the Modem won't be free. If you do take 24 month, the Modem will be free.

If this is accurate, then that's great news. And it also confirms what GeoffD said - the accuracy of the information is very dependent on who you talk to.

 

[Soprono]

Update on my case for those interested.

I managed to get hold of the Gated community guys and hounded them, today I got my cancellation of my trail account granted and applied for my Afrihost account for them to manage the line.

The trial forms do not indicate any 30 day period that is required to cancel a line due to it not formally being a contract with a specific amount being paid to Telkom monthly so I nailed them on that part and 2 weeks into the process got the account cancelled successfully (line and my data is still active so waiting for that part to be cut off for the final confirmation, might be a batch that runs at night or so shall see).

Our community was pretty lame in providing the correct information to us in terms of having to exclusively go through Telkom and couldn't answer a yes or a straight no so taking my chances with Afrihost first if that's unsuccessful I'll just go with Telkom again at the fixed cost packages and sign up again with them (kept my ADSL active for the time begin to stay connected for now).

Will def keep you posted on the response from Afrihost and if it was successful or not. Would be great info for others searching down the line.

 

[jcheek]

Hi everyone.
New here on mybroadband, but I have been reading this topic each week in anticipation for news of the Waverley (in the Moot in Pretoria) fibre rollout.

Hello, welcome to MyBB and this thread !

I stay in Dunwoodie avenue and they have been trenching since October 2016 and laying fibre down our street and that has now already been joined up with DFA in Trumper avenue and I see they doing the same in parts of Waverley but since then (about December or so) nothing further has happened in the last 2 months.

DFA typically provides bulk fibre connectivity to network operators and larger business clients and they're not generally involved in providing FTTH connectivity at the residential/retail level. For example, Telkom/Openserve sometimes use DFA to provide backhaul connectivity for their fibre exchanges and 4G/LTE base stations. (see here for example).
So DFA trenching probably isn't a direct indication of Openserve FTTH rollout, unfortunately.
The good news is that your area already shows as 'Planned' at least - great first step!

I spoke with the Openserve Project Manager in November who said end February or beginning March or so and I am aware that there is a lot that has to be completed before they are done - but does anyone know when Waverley will be lit up?

Unless an 'insider' pipes up here, any guesstimate you get is going to be anecdotal and just that - a guesstimate.
Apart from watching the coverage map for dark purple, your best indication would probably be the installation of aerial 'slim' boxes piggybacked on the existing voice/DSL copper lines in your area (lots of examples and pics on this thread). When you see those being installed and connected on your block, you can allow yourself to get slightly excited - think 2 to 4-month timeframe from that time.

 

[jcheek]

Update on my case for those interested.
I managed to get hold of the Gated community guys and hounded them, today I got my cancellation of my trial account granted ...
<snip>
The trial forms do not indicate any 30 day period that is required to cancel a line due to it not formally being a contract with a specific amount being paid to Telkom monthly so I nailed them on that part and 2 weeks into the process got the account cancelled successfully

Well done on the cancellation!
(Amazing that it should be so difficult to cancel a free trial with Openserve and replace it with a product that will bring them line revenue!).

... and applied for my Afrihost account for them to manage the line ...
<snip>
... taking my chances with Afrihost first ...

Interesting! If successful, I think that'll be the first case on this thread where a non-Telkom ISP manages (and bills for) the Openserve line on behalf of an end client inside a gated community.
In principle it should be fine, interested to hear if the red tape is going to allow for it.

Our community was pretty lame in providing the correct information to us in terms of having to exclusively go through Telkom and couldn't answer a yes or a straight no ...
<snip>
... if that's unsuccessful I'll just go with Telkom again at the fixed cost packages and sign up again with them.

If your Afrihost attempt doesn't work out, your options as a GC/LC should be pretty similar to those shown in the price table in this post.

Will def keep you posted on the response from Afrihost and if it was successful or not. Would be great info for others searching down the line.

Great, please do.
Good luck!

 

[Soprono]

Well done on the cancellation!
(Amazing that it should be so difficult to cancel a free trial with Openserve and replace it with a product that will bring them line revenue!).



Interesting! If successful, I think that'll be the first case on this thread where a non-Telkom ISP manages (and bills for) the Openserve line on behalf of an end client inside a gated community.
In principle it should be fine, interested to hear if the red tape is going to allow for it.



If your Afrihost attempt doesn't work out, your options as a GC/LC should be pretty similar to those shown in the price table in this post.



Great, please do.
Good luck!

So turned out the estate did a complete lock down to Telkom only ISP. Guess that sucks slightly however least the trial is now cancelled and I can just sign straight up for a full proper package.

Going to try investigate was the FUP is capped at on the uncapped accounts as a matter of interest as I did a average of 1TB a month on my current ADSL account.

 

[Soprono]

Second question does anyone know of a provider that does just data over the line? I just got confirmation that we can use a different ISP but the broadband line needs to be via Telkom.

Can't seem to find other Data only providers?

 

[Johnatan56]

Second question does anyone know of a provider that does just data over the line? I just got confirmation that we can use a different ISP but the broadband line needs to be via Telkom.

Can't seem to find other Data only providers?

All ADSL/VDSL providers work on Telkom OpenServe.
Examples: Crystal Web, Afrihost, Axxess, etc.

 

[Soprono]

All ADSL/VDSL providers work on Telkom OpenServe.
Examples: Crystal Web, Afrihost, Axxess, etc.

Afrihost is excluded also asked them the same thing and they said not anymore.

 

[Johnatan56]

Afrihost is excluded also asked them the same thing and they said not anymore.

Huh?
https://www.afrihost.com/landing/fibre/ scroll through the providers, furthest right.
Do note I just left Afrihost due to issues on their network, am currently with Crystal Web and things have been going a lot better.

 

[jcheek]

Afrihost is excluded also asked them the same thing and they said not anymore.

Huh? https://www.afrihost.com/landing/fibre/ scroll through the providers, furthest right.

I think Michaelmw means that Afrihost are not offering "data only" packages (as he would want), but only line+data packages. Given that connecting through Telkom IPC shouldn't care about what the last-mile technology is, that does seem crazy, but there you go ...
Looking at their stuff, it does talk only of line+data packages now.
Some other providers (eg Axxess) are still advertising all 3 variations, ie line-only, data-only, and line+data.

 

[Blubiree]

And just to add to jcheek's post: If you're only interested in the data package, I don't think you even need to limit yourself to Afrihost's fibre options. Things may have changed since, but up until last month I used a normal Afrihost ADSL capped data package on Telkom's (Openserve) fibre network, without any issues.

 

[Blubiree]

Just to confirm i'm not going crazy: When I compare the cost of a standalone 100mb line between Telkom and Axxess, there's R109 difference.

Is that simply due to the different pricing models, or are there hidden costs with Axxess (like a port fee, etc)?

 

[mystic007]

Blubiree, where did you find the Telkom standalone pricing?

I can't find it anywhere on Telkom's website

 

[Soprono]

Another full screen

 

[Blubiree]

Blubiree, where did you find the Telkom standalone pricing?

I can't find it anywhere on Telkom's website

The Gated Community rep emailed it to me. The full pricelist is identical to the one Michaelmw attached above.

 

[jcheek]

Blubiree, where did you find the Telkom standalone pricing?
I can't find it anywhere on Telkom's website

You won't find standalone (line-only) pricing anywhere on the Telkom website, because the Telkom/Openserve line-only products are only available to people inside gated or "lifestyle" communities. They're not available to individual residential consumers - at least, not yet. So far, only some of the independent (non-Telkom) ISPs have devised ways to offer Openserve line-only products, and even that is a comparatively recent development.

The "estate pricing" is negotiated between Telkom/Openserve and the relevant BC/HOA and might vary between different deployments. The pricing info would typically be distributed to residents by the BC/HOA, or by Telkom with their consent.
See this post for background and examples of promotional material distributed by GCS inside estates.

 

[ebendl]

So I had a couple of minutes red LOS flashing tonight. But it disappeared after a few minutes and now I'm running back at full speed.

Does this happen regularly? My wife claims it was a similar problem the other evening but it doesn't seem to be permanent...

Bit strange...

 

[supersunbird]

So I had a couple of minutes red LOS flashing tonight. But it disappeared after a few minutes and now I'm running back at full speed.

Does this happen regularly? My wife claims it was a similar problem the other evening but it doesn't seem to be permanent...

Bit strange...

Like about 10 to 5 min ago? Happened to me as well, so maybe a openserve network issue?

 

[JayM]

So I had a couple of minutes red LOS flashing tonight. But it disappeared after a few minutes and now I'm running back at full speed.

Does this happen regularly? My wife claims it was a similar problem the other evening but it doesn't seem to be permanent...

Bit strange...

Just had that as well. First time it's happened since line was installed in December..

 

[ebendl]

Like about 10 to 5 min ago? Happened to me as well, so maybe a openserve network issue?

Yup.

Wonder if a router somewhere rebooted?

Seems fine now...