Many telecommunications operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in South Africa are promoting their data products as \u201cuncapped\u201d or \u201cunlimited\u201d.<\/p>\n
While most of these products offer lots of data for their price, they typically come with a fair use policy (FUP). When users exceed the monthly FUP, their connection speed is usually throttled.<\/p>\n
Throttling and shaping do not go down well with some subscribers, and unhappiness with uncapped advertising has resulted in many Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) complaints.<\/p>\n
In the latest incident the ASA dismissed a complaint which claimed that Telkom\u2019s uncapped Internet advertising was misleading.<\/p>\n
The ASA agreed with Telkom\u2019s view that it reserves the right to apply restrictions on an uncapped account if a customer\u2019s behaviour is affecting the user experience of other customers on its network.<\/p>\n
The Internet Service Providers\u2019 Association (ISPA) defines capped, uncapped, and unlimited as\u00a0follows:<\/p>\n
ISPA\u2019s summary is commendable and gives a broad outline of how the industry describes its\u00a0data services.<\/p>\n
However, not everyone is following these guidelines, and some of the fair use limits are rather low.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the fair use policies which consumers will be well advised to read before they sign up for an uncapped or unlimited data service.<\/p>\n
MTN promotes its Sky contract as offering uncapped data, where a \u201cFair Use Policy will apply\u201d. Here is the fair use policy:<\/p>\n
Customers shall be able to generate uncapped data usage, however, a fair use of 5GB (five gigabytes) will apply whereupon the speed will be limited to 384kbps. Should the Customer use more than 5GB before the end of the month (the Customer\u2019s bill run), the MTN SKY Fair Use Policy shall apply.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Telkom: Unlimited data<\/h3>\n
Telkom is promoting its Completely Unlimited mobile package as offering \u201cunlimited data\u201d, where a fair use policy applies.<\/p>\n
The Completely Unlimited Data benefit is only applicable for Telkom Mobile\u2019s data network and is governed by a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) of 10GB per month. The speed shall be throttled to 128kbps if a subscriber reaches a data usage soft cap of 10GB before the end of the month. The speed shall be reset to normal speed at the beginning of each calendar month, alternatively subscribers can purchase once off or recurring data bundles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Telkom: Free Unlimited Wi-Fi<\/h3>\n
Telkom is offering \u201cFree Unlimited Wi-Fi\u201d access to its hotspots with many of its mobile packages. The company explains that:<\/p>\n
Free Unlimited Wi-Fi with a Fair usage cap of 10GB per month shall apply. The Free Unlimited Speed shall be throttled to 128kbps if a subscriber reaches a data usage of 10GB via Wi-Fi access before end of the month. The speed shall be reset to normal speed at the beginning of each month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Telkom: Uncapped data<\/h3>\n
Telkom is promoting its Uncapped DSL data bundles as providing \u201cuncapped data\u201d, but warns customers that there is a \u201cTelkom Internet Acceptable Use Policy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Telkom reserves the right to apply restrictions on an uncapped account if a customer\u2019s behaviour is determined to be affecting the user experience of other customers on Telkom\u2019s network. Such restrictions may include but are not limited to throttling a customer\u2019s throughput speeds to an appropriate proportion of the actual port speed and \/ or shaping a customer\u2019s bandwidth to limit the use of bandwidth intensive protocols and applications.<\/p>\n
Examples of customer behaviour which may compromise Telkom\u2019s network performance include, for example, causing network congestion, include running excessive concurrent internet sessions or accessing excessive bandwidth intensive protocols such as peer-to-peer.<\/p>\n
In the event of such behaviours, Telkom reserves the right to terminate the account of a customer whose usage is continuously affecting Telkom\u2019s network performance, as a customer of Telkom Internet uncapped products.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Web Africa: Home uncapped<\/h3>\n
Web Africa is promoting its Home uncapped service with the tagline \u201cKeep browsing, keep playing and stay up to date with reliable uncapped home internet\u201d. Here is the fine print:<\/p>\n
To ensure that all customers have fair and equal use of the Home Uncapped service and to protect the integrity of the network, Web Africa reserves the right and will take necessary steps to prevent improper or excessive usage thereof.<\/p>\n
Web Africa may undertake the following action(s) to ensure fair and equal network performance for all customers:<\/p>\n
\n
- Adjusting the throughput of the aforementioned service based off the current and historic usage of the service.<\/li>\n
- Limiting or preventing service through specific protocols and\/or ports.<\/li>\n
- Continuous excessive usage of a service may result in termination of the Home Uncapped ADSL account.<\/li>\n
- Any attempt to bypass Shaping Policies may result in termination of the Uncapped ADSL account.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n
MWEB: Uncapped ADSL<\/h3>\n
MWEB is using the tagline \u201cSurf the net, update your Facebook and tweet to your heart’s content\u201d to promote its uncapped ADSL service. It comes with the following terms and conditions:<\/p>\n
Uncapped means there is no limit placed on the total volume of traffic uploaded or downloaded, however the AUP may place additional restrictions on usage behaviour beyond illegal or unlawful usage. Customers not adhering to the AUP may have their services limited or soft capped.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Afrihost: Uncapped DSL<\/h3>\n
Afrihost describes its uncapped DSL service as follows: \u201cDownload to your heart’s content. Why count your Bytes? Get the power of unthrottled, unmetered Broadband and make sure you always get the best of the internet without having to watch your usage – ever!\u201d. Here is the ISP\u2019s terms and conditions:<\/p>\n
In order to ensure that everybody has the best experience possible, we will manage our network by prioritising the types of traffic to make sure that our clients’ Internet experience is as fast as it can be – no matter the time of the day or the utilisation of our network. We will never throttle nor shape any of the Realtime services at any time of the day or night – no matter what your overall usage is. Your speed will be as fast as your Telkom ADSL line allows for Realtime traffic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
More on DSL fair use policies<\/h3>\n
Uncapped ADSL throttling and fair use<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
Telkom ADSL fair usage policy warning<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
Mweb uncapped ADSL thresholds and throttling<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n