10 Mbps ADSL uncapped: What to expect

10 Mbps ADSL is set to arrive in South Africa next month, the first speed upgrade in the ADSL arena since 1 Mbps ADSL subscribers were bumped up to 4 Mbps in September 2006.

The imminent higher ADSL speeds are widely welcomed by broadband subscribers, but it also puts pressure on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to upgrade their networks and start to offer 10 Mbps ADSL products. 

Questions have also been raised about Telkom’s ability to support the higher ADSL speeds, but Telkom previously dismissed these concerns saying that it will only upgrade lines which are served by exchanges with ample capacity.

ISPs give feedback

ISPs seem to be prepared for the higher ADSL speeds, but some uncertainty remains about the cost of 10 Mbps uncapped ADSL offerings.

Internet Solutions (IS), which provides numerous smaller ISPs with wholesale ADSL services, said that their per-GB offerings will work on all line speeds, including the imminent 10 Mbps ADSL service.

IS added that they are planning to launch an uncapped 10 Mbps service, but have reservations:  “Our intentions are to launch a 10Mbps service. Before we do so we want to be 100% confident that Telkom has got the IPC capacity and future capacity plans to support this. We are also very aware that the 10Mbps DSL service will only be available in limited Telkom exchanges,” IS said.

MWEB confirmed that their per-GB services will support speeds of up to 10 Mbps, but like IS they are still looking into the capacity requirements and costs associated with an uncapped  10 Mbps offering.

Axxess said that while their usage based offerings will support speeds of up to 10 Mbps at the current pricing, they are not ready to launch a higher speed uncapped service.  Axxess is however planning a 10 Mbps uncapped service for later this year, but cost remains uncertain.

Afrihost is also still pondering whether an uncapped 10 Mbps service makes sense for them. “We are still deciding whether we are going to launch a 10 Mbps uncapped service and at what price,” said Afrihost CEO Gian Visser.

Openweb founder Keoma Wright said that they will launch an uncapped 10 Mbps ADSL service, but explained that it will “more than likely be a Gold Uncapped product, and will be priced accordingly”.

Other ISPs including G-Connect and Sainet said that while their capped ADSL subscribers will enjoy the higher speeds, they are still assessing the impact of the higher speeds on their network provisioning.

Potential pricing

What has transpired from discussions with the ISPs is that users may have to fork out well above R1000 for a 10 Mbps uncapped ADSL account.

The increased ADSL speeds do not seem to scale linearly when it comes to usage and the network capacity needed to support the higher speeds, and the costs for an uncapped 10 Mbps consumer service may therefore be above the ‘logical’ R1250.

10 Mbps uncapped ADSL << What do you think the price will be?