Uncapped Internet in the most remote parts of South Africa
South Africans living in remote and lightly populated areas often do not have access to LTE, 5G, or fibre.
Lack of population density, the absence of supporting infrastructure like power, and difficult terrain can make it financially challenging for network operators to roll out infrastructure to more remote locations.
However, some service providers tend to this part of the market, including satellite and terrestrial wireless Internet Service Providers (Wisps).
Wisps provide Internet connectivity by beaming a signal from a tower in the area to an antenna installed on the customer’s premises.
This requires a reliable and direct line of sight between the dish and the tower.
Several Wisps are available to people in remote areas, with download speeds ranging from 4Mbps to 100Mbps.
National wisps like Hero Wireless and Wirulink sell a broad range of wireless Internet services in underserved regions, as do smaller local players like Ibits Internet and Level-7.
To illustrate the range of products and prices available, Level-7 offers a package with 5Mbps download and 2Mbps upload speeds (5Mbps/2Mbps) for R299 per month. For R100 more, customers can upgrade to a 10Mbps/2Mbps package.
Level-7 also offers 15Mbps/3Mbps, 20Mbps/5Mbps, and 25Mbps/2Mbps packages priced at R699, R499, and R1,499, respectively.
Ibits also offers relatively affordable prices when compared to the bigger players.
Ibits offers a 10Mbps/10Mbps package for R299 and a 20Mbps/20Mbps package for R399. An advantage of using the service is that all packages have symmetric speeds, unlike the other packages used in the comparison.
Hero Wireless offers three packages with download speeds between 5 Mbps and 20 Mbps, but all are relatively expensive compared to other options.
Herotel’s fastest package is 10Mbps/2Mbps, whereas Wirulink offers packages up to 100Mbps. Level-7 and Ibits have services up to 50Mbps.
However, Ibits said customers can contact it if they have need for a faster package.
The table below compares the upload speeds, download speeds, and prices of uncapped Internet packages offered by Wisps.
| Provider | Download speed | Upload speed | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤5Mbps | |||
| Level-7 | 5 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R299 |
| Hero Wireless | 4 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R499 |
| Wirulink | 5 Mbps | 1 Mbps | R519 |
| ≤10Mbps | |||
| Ibits | 10 Mbps | 10 Mbps | R299 |
| Level-7 | 10 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R399 |
| Hero Wireless | 6 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R699 |
| Level-7 | 15 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R699 |
| Wirulink | 10 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R749 |
| Hero Wireless | 8 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R849 |
| Hero Wireless | 10 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R999 |
| ≤20Mbps | |||
| Ibits | 20 Mbps | 20 Mbps | R399 |
| Level-7 | 20 Mbps | 5 Mbps | R499 |
| Wirulink | 15 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R919 |
| Wirulink | 20 Mbps | 4 Mbps | R1,149 |
| ≤50Mbps | |||
| Ibits | 30 Mbps | 30 Mbps | R499 |
| Ibits | 40 Mbps | 40 Mbps | R599 |
| Ibits | 50 Mbps | 50 Mbps | R699 |
| Level-7 | 25 Mbps | 2 Mbps | R1,499 |
| Wirulink | 35 Mbps | 7 Mbps | R1,729 |
| Wirulink | 50 Mbps | 10 Mbps | R2,299 |
| ≤100Mbps | |||
| Wirulink | 100 Mbps | 20 Mbps | R3,099 |
Satellite Internet services, on the other hand, use dish antennas to receive signals beamed from geosynchronous and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in space.
Connections based on geosynchronous satellite technology have been available in South Africa for some time and offer reliable broadband in isolated areas, provided users are happy to deal with high-latency.
Providers like IcasaSePush, Vox, and MorClick offer uncapped satellite Internet services that can be accessed from rural areas across South Africa.
Another provider, Paratus, sells satellite business Internet packages. However, it doesn’t list pricing on its website and prompts customers to request a quote.
MorClick offers the most affordable satellite Internet package with a speed of 10 Mbps up and 3 Mbps down for R999 per month. Customers will have to pay a R2,500 installation fee.
Vox offers the same speeds using Eutelsat’s infrastructure for just over R150 more than MorClick. However, the setup cost is cheaper at R1,199.
For R300 per month more than its entry-level bundle, MorClick offers twice the download speed and the same upload speed. Customers will have to pay the same installation fee.
Vox has a bundle with the same upload and download speeds as MorClick’s 20 Mbps package for R1,772.31 and a R1,199 installation fee.
Vox also offers higher download speeds of 30 Mbps and 50 Mbps, both with 5 Mbps upload speeds, but users will have to fork out R2,308.67 and R3,515.07, respectively.
The space also recently saw new entrants beginning to sell Starlink Internet kits and plans, even though SpaceX has not officially launched its satellite broadband service in South Africa.
While they are relatively expensive compared to other satellite Internet providers in the country, low-Earth orbit systems like Starlink can reach much higher speeds.
One provider, IcasaSePush, charges R12,999 for the Starlink kit and R3,499 for help users set up their accounts for regional roaming.
Customers will then pay a subscription fee of around R1,900 per month for Starlink Roam, depending on where they imported their kits from.
The table below shows a price comparison between satellite Internet service providers.
| Provider | Download | Upload | Monthly price | Installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MorClick | 10 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R999 | R2,500 |
| Vox Eutelsat | 10 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R1,168.68 | R1,199 |
| MorClick | 20 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R1,299 | R2,500 |
| Vox Eutelsat | 20 Mbps | 3 Mbps | R1,772.31 | R1,199 |
| Vox Eutelsat | 30 Mbps | 5 Mbps | R2,308.67 | R1,199 |
| Vox Eutelsat | 50 Mbps | 5 Mbps | R3,515.07 | R1,199 |
| IcasaSePush | Unlimited | Unlimited | R1,900 (via Eswatini) | R3,499 + Starlink Kit (R12,999) |
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