Telkom LTE-Advanced vs fibre-to-the-home – which is the better deal?

Telkom recently announced it had expanded its LTE-Advanced coverage to include 22 new suburbs in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape.
Telkom states on its website the LTE-A network supports download speeds of 150Mbps and upload speeds of up to 25Mbps, and is much faster than its existing ADSL and VDSL offerings.
The operator added that speeds on its LTE-A network are comparable to speeds available over a fibre network, and offer an alternative to fixed-line broadband for high-speed connectivity.
“The LTE Advanced bundle from Telkom offers a compelling connected home solution, at speeds above what is currently available in the market,” said Telkom.
Is an LTE connection comparable to a fibre-to-the-home connection, though, particularly when it comes to pricing?
The table below answers that question by comparing Telkom’s LTE-A pricing to similar FTTH packages currently available.
ISP
|
Line speed | Data allocation | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Web Africa | 100Mbps | 90GB + 360GB night-time data | R1,148 |
MWEB | 100Mbps | 100GB + 100GB night-time data | R1,199 |
Web Africa | 100Mbps | 120GB + 480GB night-time data | R1,248 |
MTN | 100Mbps | 100GB | R1,334 |
Telkom LTE-A | Up to 150Mbps | 100GB | R1,399 |
Vox Telecom | 100Mbps | 300GB | R1,449 |
MWEB | 100Mbps | 200GB + 200GB night-time data | R1,599 |
Vodacom | 100Mbps | 200GB | R1,799 |
Cool Ideas | 100Mbps | Uncapped | R1,999 |
Cybersmart | 100Mbps | Uncapped | R2,899 |
Areas covered by the Telkom LTE-A network are shown in the image below.
More on Telkom LTE-A, FTTH
Telkom 150Mbps LTE Advanced live in more suburbs
Telkom LightSpeed Broadband fight
New MWEB fibre-to-the-home packages unveiled