Consumers have been waiting for years for a competitor to Telkom The wait is almost over. Second national operator Neotel will launch its first consumer offerings later this month.<\/p>\n
And its first product, a wireless telephone and Internet modem which resembles a traditional table-top fixed-line phone, is not a bad first attempt. It has problems \u2014 most notably, it lacks an Ethernet port so people can\u2019t easily share their Internet connections \u2014 but, for a first product, Neotel deserves more bouquets than brickbats.<\/p>\n
Neotel has opted for a fixed-wireless solution based on a technology known as CDMA2000 EV-DO.<\/p>\n
EV-DO offers download speeds of up to 2,4Mbit\/s. In our tests in Northwold, northwest of Johannesburg, we were pleasantly surprised with the Internet access speeds served up by the device. Using speedtest.net, an online speed testing service, they ranged from 638Kbit\/s from a server in Johannesburg to 2Mbit\/s from a server in Cape Town.<\/p>\n
Uplink speeds averaged around 50Kbit\/s, with the best performance achieved on a connection to London.<\/p>\n
In basic telephony, the device does not score as well. Though calls to fixed lines were exceptionally good, calls to mobile phones left much to be desired. All in all, it\u2019s an encouraging start from Neotel and should help put further downward pressure on SA\u2019s exorbitant telecommunications rates.<\/p>\n