MWEB Uncapped ADSL: A year on
A year ago MWEB launched a full range of Uncapped ADSL packages; allowing consumers and businesses to start engaging with the Internet like they do in the rest of the world.
MWEB ISP CEO, Derek Hershaw says, “MWEB’s aim of launching Uncapped ADSL to the market was to bring a fast and reliable Internet Service to all South Africans; providing them with a world class Internet experience at an affordable rate and allowing them to do more than ‘just surfing’.”
Before the launch of Uncapped ADSL, MWEB users consumed a modest 282 terabytes of data a month opposed to 2.5 petabytes a month currently – that’s almost a 9-fold increase and is equivalent to 32 years of continuous HD TV streaming; a strong indication of how MWEB is increasing Internet usage in South Africa.
The ISP has also been successful in its peering efforts, establishing peering agreements with both local ISP’s and International partners. More than a third of the traffic passing through the JINX and CINX public exchange points is generated by MWEB customers. Internationally, MWEB peers 40% of its traffic.
Further to this a unique partnership with Gameservers.com has made improved online gaming a reality for South African gamers. MWEB now hosts over 50 leading gaming titles locally including the hugely popular Call of Duty: Black Ops which was released globally in 2010.
“We have seen a significant change in users’ online behaviour and have noticed that their interests have shifted from checking emails, occasional browsing and online banking to really exploring and enjoying the wonders of the worldwide web. Five years ago, listening to a local Internet radio station, viewing DSTV on your laptop and downloading your favourite movies and music would have been extremely expensive and almost unimaginable,” says Hershaw.
Whilst MWEB has continued to enjoy significant growth across its broadband base, it is the take-up in Uncapped ADSL in particular that continues to demonstrate the pent-up demand in the local market for a true broadband experience.
To accommodate this growth, MWEB has also made significant investments in its IPC, national and international network.
To bring resilience into the network MWEB has landed SAT-3 (west coast) international capacity at its new IPC node in Cape Town, to complement its SEACOM (east coast) capacity out of Johannesburg. MWEB’s combined IPC capacity is substantially bigger than any other operator in the market, and it continues to grow each month.
“Telkom is now in a position where they are able to grow our IPC nodes on a monthly basis, to ensure that we stay ahead of the growth in demand of our customers” said Hershaw.
MWEB has further rolled-out new concept stores in Canal Walk, Cape Town and Centurion Mall, Pretoria to complement the existing store in Cresta, Johannesburg. The ISP has also been at the forefront of social media platforms engaging daily with over 35 000 followers and fans on Twitter, Facebook and various online forums.
2010 saw MWEB challenging and disrupting conventional norms and established practices in the South African Internet market.
The ISP’s role in championing the broadband industry did not go unnoticed when it won the 2010 MyBroadband ISP of the Year as well as the Broadband Maverick of the Year Awards.
When asked what MWEB envisions for 2011, Hershaw explains that the ISP will continue to build on its successes of 2010 growing the market, driving down pricing and improving the quality of the final service to the end-user.
“MWEB will look to continue to lead the way in engaging with all consumers and stakeholders in the South African Internet landscape to establish their needs and to develop a world-class Internet infrastructure in South Africa”, Hershaw concludes.
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