Not all fibre "homes connected" are the same

[Jan]

The problem with fibre numbers in South Africa

While many of South Africa's major fibre network operators (FNOs) use only actively subscribed customers for their "homes connected" figures, the country's two biggest operators use a different method.

When it comes to reporting on their fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network sizes, FNOs use two main performance measures — "homes passed" and "homes connected".

 

[ToxicBunny]

I reckon I agree with Openserve and Vumatels approach.

Homes Connected have an ONT on the property and don't need any additional infrastructure work to connect.

Active Subscribers is a different figure to Homes Connected in my opinion.

 

[Slckrck]

I reckon I agree with Openserve and Vumatels approach.

Homes Connected have an ONT on the property and don't need any additional infrastructure work to connect.

Active Subscribers is a different figure to Homes Connected in my opinion.

Exactly, why overcomplicate it....if a property is connected to the network, the active or inactive status doesn't matter.

 

[TofuMofu]

Exactly, why overcomplicate it....if a property is connected to the network, the active or inactive status doesn't matter.

Connected means they are subscribed and billable. Being connected to the network with no subscription or not billable is just as good as not connected as it's not in use.

 

[Syphonx]

I reckon I agree with Openserve and Vumatels approach.

Homes Connected have an ONT on the property and don't need any additional infrastructure work to connect.

Active Subscribers is a different figure to Homes Connected in my opinion.

Not from a financial standpoint. Connected implies the service is being paid for. With this approach you could have thousands of 'connected' customers that pay nothing. Basically inflates your number of customers

 

[ToxicBunny]

Not from a financial standpoint. Connected implies the service is being paid for. With this approach you could have thousands of 'connected' customers that pay nothing. Basically inflates your number of customers

No, Active subscribers explicitly tells you the service is being paid for.

Homes Connected tells you that the home is able to get the service without any infrastructure work
Homes Passed tells you that a home is able to get the service but work needs to be done.

Yes there is disagreement about the standards here.. but for me if you're going to implement a standard that all FNOs will use, the above makes the most sense and is actually the most useful in determining how an FNO is doing.

 

[Mystic Twilight]

No, Active subscribers explicitly tells you the service is being paid for.

Homes Connected tells you that the home is able to get the service without any infrastructure work

Problem occurs when these two terms are being used interchangeably to describe actual active subscribers.

 

[Swa]

I reckon I agree with Openserve and Vumatels approach.

Homes Connected have an ONT on the property and don't need any additional infrastructure work to connect.

Active Subscribers is a different figure to Homes Connected in my opinion.

Exactly, why overcomplicate it....if a property is connected to the network, the active or inactive status doesn't matter.

How so? The first metric is more or less consistent though the method to determine it may differ. It's the second one that is problematic. In most cases the difference is merely placing an ONT on the customers' premises. This is no different than a mobile operator counting sim cards in the store though none have been sold or activated. It's a rather meaningless metric.

The most important one is the number of active subscribers which gives a good measure of the state of the business and the public perception. Here Openserve and Vumatel are cooking the books using "connected" figures to appear more popular than they are.

 

[porchrat]

Also let's be honest. When you consider the rampant packet loss, people connected to Frogfoot only really have an active fibre connection about half of the time. Frogfoot should have their numbers divided by 2 by default.

 

[Sapphiron]

I reckon I agree with Openserve and Vumatels approach.

Homes Connected have an ONT on the property and don't need any additional infrastructure work to connect.

Active Subscribers is a different figure to Homes Connected in my opinion.

I think you want to draw the line on whether they are getting paid or not.

Telkom would count my house as being connected for copper service, but the line has not been earning them an income since 2014.

 

[Harmonic]

I think you want to draw the line on whether they are getting paid or not.

Telkom would count my house as being connected for copper service, but the line has not been earning them an income since 2014.

I cut the telephone line dangling over my property and threw it in the bush last year It was very cathartic

 

[RonSwanson]

Wow.
Imagine that we had a government department, whose sole purpose was to provide these definitions, and to establish metrics for these definitions, and to publish these metrics, and ongoing performance of all FNOs, plus their potential.

Such a pity that instead we have a ministry of Eskom, ministry of Uselessness, a ministry of Hamas and a ministry of Cuban Affairs.

Lekker BEE, AA and Transformation!

 

[ToxicBunny]

I think you want to draw the line on whether they are getting paid or not.

Telkom would count my house as being connected for copper service, but the line has not been earning them an income since 2014.

Which would be the active subscriber number.

Using the copper network example, it would have many millions of homes connected, but only a very small percentage as active subscribers. This would indicate that the specific network is commercially unhealthy.

 

[Bliksis]

Lmao. Complicating things just for stats.

 

[Slckrck]

How so? The first metric is more or less consistent though the method to determine it may differ. It's the second one that is problematic. In most cases the difference is merely placing an ONT on the customers' premises. This is no different than a mobile operator counting sim cards in the store though none have been sold or activated. It's a rather meaningless metric.

The most important one is the number of active subscribers which gives a good measure of the state of the business and the public perception. Here Openserve and Vumatel are cooking the books using "connected" figures to appear more popular than they are.

I disagree, the metric that matters when speaking about a network is reach. A cellular provider cannot gain a customer if that customer doesn't fall within their coverage area correct? Same with a FNO, if the home isn't connected to a network, it cannot count as a potential customer (without extra expense from the providers side) therefore the status of that customer is irrelevant when the network's reach itself is assessed. Homes passed is a wasted metric as it's like bragging about a halfway built bridge. It bares little relevance aside from satisfying politicians.

What Vuma and Openserve use as their figures makes sense in that regard.....what I'm more critical of is their connectivity rates, less than 50% conversion is a fail IMO. Speaks to their offering not being compelling, they're seemingly satisfied with wasting money and their investors are being lazy not pressuring them to up their subscription levels.

 

[Slckrck]

Wow.
Imagine that we had a government department, whose sole purpose was to provide these definitions, and to establish metrics for these definitions, and to publish these metrics, and ongoing performance of all FNOs, plus their potential.

Such a pity that instead we have a ministry of Eskom, ministry of Uselessness, a ministry of Hamas and a ministry of Cuban Affairs.

Lekker BEE, AA and Transformation!

Unfortunately we require a functioning government for such fancy things.... imagine being able to go to a reliable government site to see all the areas there's 5G and fibre coverage without having to search a coverage map on every ISP website every time you're price comparing.

 

[Swa]

I disagree, the metric that matters when speaking about a network is reach. A cellular provider cannot gain a customer if that customer doesn't fall within their coverage area correct? Same with a FNO, if the home isn't connected to a network, it cannot count as a potential customer (without extra expense from the providers side) therefore the status of that customer is irrelevant when the network's reach itself is assessed. Homes passed is a wasted metric as it's like bragging about a halfway built bridge. It bares little relevance aside from satisfying politicians.

What Vuma and Openserve use as their figures makes sense in that regard.....what I'm more critical of is their connectivity rates, less than 50% conversion is a fail IMO. Speaks to their offering not being compelling, they're seemingly satisfied with wasting money and their investors are being lazy not pressuring them to up their subscription levels.

The passed figures make sense if implemented consistently. Connected isn't much different the way Telkom and Vuma implements it therefor it's a useless figure. What's missing here is an active homes figure which I'm sure they have and would make their offer look even worse. I outlined what should be done to increase uptake and if true connectivity rates were reported it would show that FNOs like Zoom Fibre are the only ones on the right track in that regard.

 

[Gaz{M}]

Would you consider your home "connected" to the water network and sewerage pipe, even though you didn't use any water?

 

[TofuMofu]

Would you consider your home "connected" to the water network and sewerage pipe, even though you didn't use any water?

You'll still be paying for the connection, so yes. If you don't pay for it and there's no flow when you open your taps, then it's not connected.

 

[ToxicBunny]

You'll still be paying for the connection, so yes. If you don't pay for it and there's no flow when you open your taps, then it's not connected.

Not everywhere charges a separate connection fee.

But even if they did, and I for example decided I didn't want municipal water anymore, they'd turn off a valve and my house would no longer be able to receive water but it would still be connected to the network. I'd no longer be an active subscriber, merely a connected household.