Would IBurst do this? Become common carrier?

[PeterCH]

With NEOTEL coming along with UNCAPPED internet (ok surely capped to something like 50-100GB/m but anyway) at 2.6x iBurst speed, and for
R999 which is less than iBurst charge for 10MB at 1Mbps PLUS free 120Telkom Minutes, SMS, Neotel Minutes and only thing to pay as penalty
if opting out is the R80x (however months you got left out of 24),
MAYBE iBurst should think about becoming a COMMON CARRIER instead
of an ISP.

SO they offer the way ADSL users can, offer to sell you other provider's bandwidth. So you can say buy 1GB or 10GB of SAIX or IS or OpenWeb
or whoever else BANDWIDTH?

They just provide and pay for the link, and can milk whoever can't
be bothered for their own BW (eg TelkomInternet) but allowing
the option of allowing OTHER PROVIDERS SELL their own 1GB to 30GB to
whatever local/int accounts.

This would work for people who don't want to pay TELSKUM ADSL line rental,
have iBurst already and as direct competition to NeoTel ALTHOUGH
I bet NEOTEL will win anyway THEY HAVE CHEAPER INTERNATIONAL
bandwidth than all the other _ssholes put together (Telkom/SAIX, IS, etc).

Any thoughts?

I know I'm changing to NeoTel R999 offering JUST FOR THE internet
and even keep my telskum analog line possibly still and MWEB mailboxes which
I really need.

 

[hendrik7]

You forget that the majority of users are quite happy to chug along at 1Mb, that's why 3G has been so successful: as long as users have connectivity, even at GPRS rates, they can still get their email and browse a few local sites...

Until the next of Ivy/Alex/Lyndall's international cables come along SA is still relying on Telkom and Neotel to offer us quality international connectivity at a competitive price.

iBurst have done very well considering their limited budget and the fact that have have got 20% of the outlets and 5% of the towers that the cellular operators have.

In fact, if you have coverage iBurst have got the cheapest land line equivalent phone deal in town: R50 per month.

Having iBurst as a common carrier is a good idea, which I think will work better in the carrier space than in the ISP space... So let's watch this space...