Telkom ADSL fair usage policy warning
Telkom announced in a press statement on Monday, 18 August 2014 that its Internet Service Provider (ISP) will enforce its Fair Usage Policy (FUP) “in the spirit of enhancing the Internet experience of all its users.”
The announcement follows reports from subscribers who said they received warnings from Telkom about “excessive concurrent internet sessions or bandwidth-intensive protocols” which may result in throttling and bandwidth shaping.
Telkom said that Telkom ISP has always had a FUP in place but has, until now, exercised much leniency in terms of enforcing its stipulations.
As a result, Telkom said the usage of a few users has had a negative impact on the network and on the online experience of fellow users.
“Delivering a high-quality broadband experience is becoming increasingly challenging as the trends towards bandwidth intensive applications become more apparent in the everyday lives and businesses of our customers,” said Arnold Van Huyssteen, Telkom’s acting managing executive for Product House.
“The contention for available network capacity is also growing and our customers are becoming increasingly concerned about fairness and equitable service and this has prompted us to carefully re-think our bandwidth management policies to the benefit of our entire customer base,” Van Huyssteen continued.
Telkom said its broadband network is a shared resource, used by all its broadband users. Since networks do not have unlimited capacity, the operator continuously monitors the network and adds capacity when appropriate.
As such, Telkom said it is critical for its ISP to also innovate on a level that helps ensure bandwidth is allocated fairly between all its users and applications.
“As an ISP, we understand the need to do our part in containing any negative impact on the broadband eco-system as a whole, Van Huyssteen said. “We will be taking action when certain trends are spotted that may have resulted in a poor customer experience for the average user on our network.”
Telkom said it is committed to making the best use of the ISP’s resources in a fair and non-discriminatory way.
It has taken steps to inform all its customers and prospective customers on the associated benefits and profiles of its existing ISP product range, Telkom said.
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