Telkom upgrade 2Mbps to 4Mbps

[MickeyD]

You're hilarious.

First you say you want quality bandwidth, then you say ISPs must pass on savings.

Which is it?

Shame.. the ISPs are going bankrupt.

 

[Chevron]

Well the loss leader strategy worked.

Burn through 10's of millions of "marketing budget" by selling below cost, gain substantial market share, get sold to MTN for 1 billion, keep customers and generate moola by slowing down future price drops relative to future wholesale cost reductions.

Glad they rolled the dice, because it made uncapped broadband affordable for the rest of us.

Have you seen the quality of their bandwidth though?

Anything international doesn't work properly and they only do IPC upgrades after customers complain for 3-6 months of slow speeds and packet loss.

 

[Thor]

Have you seen the quality of their bandwidth though?

Anything international doesn't work properly and they only do IPC upgrades after customers complain for 3-6 months of slow speeds and packet loss.

Probably the first time since I joined this forum that I actually agree with you.

+1 to that post

 

[Chevron]

Probably the first time since I joined this forum that I actually agree with you.

+1 to that post

*HUG*

 

[Zyzzyva]

Have you seen the quality of their bandwidth though?

Anything international doesn't work properly and they only do IPC upgrades after customers complain for 3-6 months of slow speeds and packet loss.

Yeah I know. Having gained significant market share through extremely low prices, they are now trying to generate a profit and recoup their "marketing budget" without increasing prices to the levels they probably should considering the cost of IPC. The only way to generate that profit now and not later is to delay investment into the network whenever possible, trying to keep people happy with existing capacity.

It's the expected second half of their long term strategy.

I still think their role in "teaching" ISP's to operate with lower margins has been largely good for the market. Sure it has led to crappy quality bandwidth, but it's just a short term thing. Over the next few years, once prices stabilize and bottom out, quality will come back into fashion as a differentiator. We are already seeing that with crystal web for instance.

 

[Chevron]

Yeah I know. Having gained significant market share through extremely low prices, they are now trying to generate a profit and recoup their "marketing budget" without increasing prices to the levels they probably should considering the cost of IPC. The only way to generate that profit now and not later is to delay investment into the network whenever possible, trying to keep people happy with existing capacity.

It's the expected second half of their long term strategy.

I still think their role in "teaching" ISP's to operate with lower margins has been largely good for the market. Sure it has led to crappy quality bandwidth, but it's just a short term thing. Over the next few years, once prices stabilize and bottom out, quality will come back into fashion as a differentiator. We are already seeing that with crystal web for instance.

Crystal Web does it as they were started by some MyBB forumites. And if you look at their pricing it's scarily close to Web Africa's business package pricing.

Dreams are awesome, but looking at history, all it takes is one ISP to drop prices, then they all follow.

Last time it was Axxess giving away "free" account speed upgrades when the line speed upgrades happened. That's probably the biggest cause of the **** we have now. MWEB only released their standard uncapped packages after that.

The only long term solution is consumer education.

 

[Zyzzyva]

Crystal Web does it as they were started by some MyBB forumites. And if you look at their pricing it's scarily close to Web Africa's business package pricing.

Dreams are awesome, but looking at history, all it takes is one ISP to drop prices, then they all follow.

Last time it was Axxess giving away "free" account speed upgrades when the line speed upgrades happened. That's probably the biggest cause of the **** we have now. MWEB only released their standard uncapped packages after that.

The only long term solution is consumer education.

Netflix or twitch not working properly is all the education people need. The reason people aren't going for better bandwidth en masse is because it costs significant more and it's outside their budget. R1000 a month for Internet is not reasonable for most. Once prices bottom out around lower levels people will be more willing and able to pay for the business grade stuff, because the business grade stuff will be within their budget.

 

[MickeyD]

Netflix or twitch not working properly is all the education people need. The reason people aren't going for better bandwidth en masse is because it costs significant more and it's outside their budget. R1000 a month for Internet is not reasonable for most. Once prices bottom out around lower levels people will be more willing and able to pay for the business grade stuff, because the business grade stuff will be within their budget.

I've always advocated for well priced, higher cap products and the scrapping of the anomaly called uncapped.

 

[Chevron]

I've always advocated for well priced, higher cap products and the scrapping of the anomaly called uncapped.

Because buying data you don't use every month or having to run out of cap in the middle of movie is great and convenient. :erm:

Much better would be to scrap all capped products. That way ISPs could plan probably instead of the anomaly we have now.

 

[MickeyD]

Because buying data you don't use every month or having to run out of cap in the middle of movie is great and convenient. :erm:

Much better would be to scrap all capped products. That way ISPs could plan probably instead of the anomaly we have now.

If the price is right, yes.

How would you plan with only uncapped products? Through severe shaping or throttling of certain protocols at different times of the day??

 

[Chevron]

If the price is right, yes.

How would you plan with only uncapped products? Through severe shaping or throttling of certain protocols at different times of the day??

Pricing would be MUCH BETTER and WITHOUT shaping and throttling.

The problem we have now is low end users buy capped products, and high end users get uncapped.

And that's what causing the **** up. if all low end users moved to uncapped, prices would fall and we'd get better quality at the same.

It works quite similar to medical aid and insurance actually. If government made 3rd party insurance a requirement to be road car insurance pricing would fall as well.

 

[MickeyD]

Pricing would be MUCH BETTER and WITHOUT shaping and throttling.

The problem we have now is low end users buy capped products, and high end users get uncapped.

And that's what causing the **** up. if all low end users moved to uncapped, prices would fall and we'd get better quality at the same.

It works quite similar to medical aid and insurance actually. If government made 3rd party insurance a requirement to be road car insurance pricing would fall as well.

That is similar to business models in the States... and they are moving away from uncapped products.

 

[Chevron]

That is similar to business models in the States... and they are moving away from uncapped products.

States is a unnatural market place though. Very few competitors and only 2/3 big players. They are doing it as it's anti consumer.

 

[Zyzzyva]

If the price is right, yes.

How would you plan with only uncapped products? Through severe shaping or throttling of certain protocols at different times of the day??

Average usage is predictable, which makes network planning pretty easy from that perspective. The issue in this country is ISPs have to deal with insane input costs which force them to skimp on the amount of buffer allocated for users who fall outside the average. I personally think uncapped with very high usage limits is the way to go. That might sound like capped by another name, but then giving people an actual number probably results in higher average usage as people try and use up the gigs they feel they have paid for. Uncapped is a wonderfully vague target. Lower average usage means lower costs to the ISP which means lower prices and higher speeds at the end of the day.

 

[MickeyD]

States is a natural market place though. Very few competitors and only 2/3 big players. They are doing it as it's anti consumer.

So where were we?

Telkom speed upgrades.... what do you predict?

3x ADSL products (4/10/20)
2x VDSL products (20/40)
2x Fibre products (40/80)

 

[Chevron]

So where were we?

Telkom speed upgrades.... what do you predict?

3x ADSL products (4/10/20)
2x VDSL products (20/40)
2x Fibre products (40/80)

Good question.

That looks good except fibre would 50Mb/s and 100Mb/s.

 

[Zyzzyva]

Good question.

That looks good except fibre would 50Mb/s and 100Mb/s.

Was thinking the same thing.

Vumatel offering all the way to 1Gbps is way cooler though. I wonder how long before Telkom offers that?

 

[Chevron]

Was thinking the same thing.

Vumatel offering all the way to 1Gbps is way cooler though. I wonder how long before Telkom offers that?

What can you do with 1Gb/s that you can't do on 50Mb/s?

Uploads are more important.

I hope that the Telkom Fibre stuff is at least 1:2 upload/download ratio.

 

[Zyzzyva]

What can you do with 1Gb/s that you can't do on 50Mb/s?

Uploads are more important.

I hope that the Telkom Fibre stuff is at least 1:2 upload/download ratio.

Agreed on both points.

With that being said, above 100Mbps would be rather easy to offer locally. I wouldn't mind 1Gbps locally with 100Mbps international download and at least 50Mbps upload.

 

[James Erlingson]

Just a prediction from 1st Feb 2015

*1 Mbps Free with 3GB Cap* P/M

ADSL / ADSL 2+ (4Mbps, 10Mbps, 20Mbps)

VDSL (20Mbps, 40mbps)
*Might possibly drop this over time in favour of Fiber*

:Separate Network:
Fiber (4mbps, 10mbps, 20mbps, 50mbps, 100mbps)