Faster Telkom LTE speeds following end of Night Surfer deal – Users
Telkom fixed-LTE users have stated that their broadband speeds have improved following the ending of the network’s 500GB Night Surfer promotion.
Telkom previously offered users 500GB of Night Surfer LTE data – for use between midnight and 07:00, and valid for 31 days – for R50.
The deal was praised by users, and came to an end on 5 May 2018. It launched in July 2017.
Following the promotion’s ending, Telkom started offering fixed-LTE users new data specials through its Mo’Nice menu.
The LTE data deals were based on a user’s usage behaviour, however, and not all users received the same offers.
One of the better deals on the Mo’Nice platform, and comparable to the previous 500GB Night Surfer promotion, is “450GB Night Surfer Data for R59”, valid for 30 days.
As stated by Telkom, this package is not available to all users across the board.
Improved speeds
Following the ending of the 500GB Night Surfer deal, Telkom fixed-LTE users have reported an improvement on the download speeds on the network.
A Telkom LTE user from Bedfordview tracked the performance of his fixed-LTE connection when the 500GB Night Surfer promotion was active, and in the weeks following its ending.
When 500GB Night Surfer deal was active, he told MyBroadband he received the following speeds on average:
- 15-20Mbps download speeds during the day.
- 9-11Mbps download speeds from 19:00 onwards. Speeds occasionally dropped to 1Mbps.
- 25Mbps download speeds during Night Surfer hours.
In the weeks that followed the 500GB deal ending, he reported:
- 25-30Mbps download speeds during the day.
- 20Mbps download speeds from 19:00 onwards
- 50Mbps download speeds during Night Surfer hours.
Users in the MyBroadband Forum have also reported faster download speeds, ranging between 80Mbps-100Mbps at the top end.
Building new LTE sites
A possible reason for the improved speeds could be thanks to decreased usage by LTE users following the end of the 500GB Night Surfer promotion.
With fewer users setting downloads to Night Surfer hours, this off-peak period may be experiencing less congestion.
The 500GB deal may also have encouraged LTE users to consume more of their “regular” data during peak hours, as users set downloads to take place during off-peak hours.
To see if this is the case, MyBroadband spoke to Telkom about the improved LTE speeds.
The operator told MyBroadband that as the 500GB promotion applied to Night Surfer hours, users’ speeds may have been affected during these off-peak times.
It did not state that the ending of the 500GB promotion was directly linked to improved LTE speeds, however.
It added that the 500GB Night Surfer deal was a promotional offer “to test customer requirements and behaviour”.
“The product was strictly an off-peak product and therefore no network degradation was experienced,” said a Telkom spokesperson.
“We are constantly building new LTE sites for coverage, densifying the existing network, and upgrading existing LTE sites to improve the overall customer experience on our network.”
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