Problems at DFA

Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) is facing severe operational challenges, including the inability to deliver on fibre and other commercial commitments.

MyBroadband has received complaints from DFA clients that they have not been able to execute simple agreements because of problems at the company.

These complaints come amidst planned retrenchments at the fibre operator, who said it is needed to remain competitive.

DFA said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused slower economic growth and a shrinking addressable market, was a driver behind its decision.

It added that inflationary cost pressures and aggressive price competition in the market forced it to re-look its efficiencies.

DFA is correct in saying that its fibre products are not competitive.

A business looking for a 100Mbps fibre connection using DFA’s infrastructure can expect to pay around R4,000 per month. A comparable service using Openserve’s infrastructure costs R1,000.

However, the biggest problem getting “business fibre” using DFA’s infrastructure is not the price. It is the challenge of getting the service installed.

Businesses that opt for a service from Openserve or Vumatel typically get their fibre installed within a week.

DFA, in comparison, can take months to provide fibre services to a company, even when they have an existing fibre line on the premises.

The problems at DFA extends well beyond fibre provisioning, which points to bigger operational challenges.

One of DFA’s commercial partners, who spoke to MyBroadband on condition of anonymity, said they have been unable to execute a project since the beginning of 2021 because of problems at DFA.

The client said DFA approved the project, but although they were ready to deliver the needed services, the project was delayed multiple times.

They said DFA struggled to meet their commitments and blamed slow internal processes for the delays.

Getting fibre using DFA

To illustrate the operational challenges at DFA, MyBroadband can provide a real-world scenario of trying to get fibre in an office block using DFA’s infrastructure.

A 100Mbps business fibre connection, priced at R3,999 per month, was ordered through Cool Ideas on 27 October 2021. Nearly three months later, the service is still not live.

A business based in an adjacent office park, where Openserve has a presence, had their service installed in a week through Afrihost and Openserve.

The kicker is that they pay only R917 on a month-to-month agreement, while Cool Ideas and DFA’s service is only available on a long-term contract.

While the DFA service is described as “business fibre”, there is no clear advantage for most applications compared to Openserve’s SME option.

DFA’s service is far more expensive, takes much longer to install, and requires a long-term contract.

It is unlikely that any business will opt for the DFA service if an operator like Openserve has a presence in their office park.

MyBroadband asked DFA why its fibre service is so expensive, but the company did not answer this question.

It also did not provide feedback on why its installation process takes so long and why it only offers its products on long-term contracts.

Cool Ideas CEO Paul told MyBroadband the installation process below was hit by multiple unexpected delays with implementation, such as blocked fibre ducts.

“The general install time for a DFA Broadband product is six to eight weeks. The process includes landlord approval, then network planning, and sometimes wayleaves.”

He said there is no planning or approval for a consumer fibre product in most cases, and ports are available for customers that installers use.

“If there is network congestion due to oversubscription, it can either be resolved over a period of time or not at all,” he said.

The table below shows the process of getting a fibre service through Cool Ideas using DFA’s infrastructure.

It should be noted that the previous tenant had an active fibre link in the office, which make some of the installation feedback confusing.

Now read: Openserve versus DFA — the winner is clear

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