iBurst confident that it will survive HSDPA onslaught
iBurst’s CEO, Thami Mtshali, is however confident that their service will stand the test of time.
Mtshali said that there are definite motivations for consumers to choose iBurst over its rivals with speed and cost being two of the most compelling reasons. “iBurst remains the most affordable broadband service in South Africa,” said Mtshali.
iBurst is competitively priced in the local broadband arena, but it is not the most affordable broadband service as Mtshali suggests unless one eliminates all sub-1 Mbps services.
To see only 1+ Mbps services as broadband offerings is not entirely inaccurate according to parameters set by some overseas countries, but South Africa has as yet not set a speed threshold for broadband connections.
ICASA suggested that broadband be defined as services faster than 256 Kbps but this is unlikely to come into effect soon making SA ‘broadband’ services open to interpretation.
Mtshali is confident that iBurst will be able to hold its own against HSDPA in the speed department. He said that iBurst users routinely experience speeds of 1 Mbps.
Mtshali further backs his service when it comes to reliability. “iBurst remains the most stable always-on wireless broadband service in South Africa. Some users have been continuously logged onto the network for over six month,” Mtshali said.
This claim by Mtshali is debatable as reliability was one of the variables that dragged iBurst’s rating down in MyADSL’s last broadband report. In this report Sentech’s MyWireless service proved to be the most reliable wireless service in South Africa.
The fact that iBurst continues to grow at a steady rate gives an indication that there is a market for their service and offerings, and with a more consumer centric approach, something the company is heavily investing in, they may be able to carve a niche for themselves in the broadband arena.
With Vodacom and MTN’s aggressive HSDPA plans the other wireless providers will find the going tougher than before. There is however always room for smaller companies where individual service and competitive pricing makes the difference.
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