eKasi Fibre launches in South Africa’s fourth-largest township — low-cost packages up to 50Mbps
eKasi Fibre, a prepaid fibre network operator, recently launched its services in Umlazi, KZN — South Africa’s fourth-largest township.
The company focuses on supplying low-cost fibre internet to previously disadvantaged regions of South Africa, and its customers can choose from 10Mbps, 25Mbps, or 50Mbps services.
eKasi Fibre states that it isn’t like most of the country’s fibre network operators, as its packages are based on varying durations of access — from daily to three-monthly.
“We offer prepaid fibre internet in daily, weekly, monthly, two monthly and three monthly packages. We also offer speeds of 10, 25 and 50Mbps,” director at eKasi Fibre, Brad Lowman, told MyBroadband.
“Our offering is uncapped and sold in windows of time rather than amounts of data. Our prices are not only competitive but also offer our target market a lot of flexibility.”
The 50Mbps service will cost eKasi’s customers R49.00 for a day of access and R229.00 for a week’s worth of fibre connectivity.
They will also have the option to purchase one, two, or three-month packages. These cost R679.00, R1,199.00, or R1,799.00 for the highest-speed offering, respectively.
Lowman said that eKasi Fibre uses high-quality fibre and termination equipment to provide a network that will last.
“eKasi Fibre recognises that a network installed today needs to last and not only provide connectivity services to suit the needs of today’s customers but also next-generation services,” he said.
At the start of February 2022, eKasi Fibre had established its services in 660 houses in Umlazi as a proof of concept. It intends to provide affordable Internet access to 36,000 homes in the township.
eKasi Fibre is currently only focused on Umlazi.
“Ideally, eKasi would like to service as many underserved areas as possible, but we require further funding to do so,” Lowman said.
“Current areas under consideration are KwaMashu and Inanda. However, we are solely focused on Umlazi for the moment and providing access to affordable internet for its 400,000 residents.”
When it comes to funding, Lowman told MyBroadband that shareholders had financed the proof of concept project and that the network provider is applying for financing at several governmental and private institutions.
eKasi Fibre enters a highly competitive market, though its offerings offer subscribers more choice.
Openserve, Vumatel, and Frogfoot also offer low-cost prepaid fibre services in the form of Openserve Web Connect, Vuma Reach, and Frogfoot air.
Like eKasi Fibre, the low-cost offerings from Vumatel and Openserve are prepaid. However, they are limited by comparison.
Openserve’s prepaid fibre offerings — sold through Telkom — do not offer a range of speeds, but rather all of its packages are 25Mbps.
Telkom charges R99 for three, R169 for seven, and R449 for 30 days’ worth of access.
Vumatel’s prepaid fibre packages are valid for 28 days, and its customers can choose a 20Mbps service for R378 or a 40Mbps service for R488.
eKasi Fibre’s pricing and access durations are provided in the table below.
| eKasi Fibre pricing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration of access (days) | Speed | ||
| 10Mbps | 25Mbps | 50Mbps | |
| 1 | R29.00 | R39.00 | R49.00 |
| 7 | R129.00 | R169.00 | R229.00 |
| 30 | R399.00 | R499.00 | R679.00 |
| 60 | R659.00 | R899.00 | R1,199.00 |
| 90 | R999.00 | R1,299.00 | R1,799.00 |
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