Neotel recently launched an uncapped 2 Mbps WiMAX service aimed at the small and medium sized business market. The service provides both uplink and downlink speeds of 2 Mbps (symmetrical) and aims to compete with business ADSL services from service providers like Internet Solutions.<\/p>\n
According to Neotel the service is a best-effort broadband service similar to ADSL without any service level agreements (SLAs). While the service is uncapped, it carries a ‘fair-usage’ limit of 35 GB per month. It is understood that the service will be throttled to a lower speed if the usage per account is significantly higher than the fair-usage limit.<\/p>\n
Neotel WiMAX Pricing<\/strong><\/p>\n The Neotel WiMAX service is available in three flavors: a month-to-month option, a 12 month contract and a 24 month contract.<\/p>\n With the month-to-month option the service is priced at R 4 500 excluding VAT, and carries a once-off installation and CPE cost of R 5 000. The price decreases to R 3 500 per month (excluding VAT) when a 12 month contract is signed, and these subscribers will also not have to pay any installation or CPE fees.<\/p>\n The 24-month contract service costs R 3 050 per month (excluding VAT) and subscribers will also not be charged installation and WiMAX CPE costs. At R 3 477 per month (VAT inclusive) the service will attract some businesses looking for an uncapped solution with high uplink speeds, but the 35 GB fair usage policy may be a concern to some high-usage clients.<\/p>\n According to Neotel CEO Ajay Pandey initial feedback from commercial clients has been very positive, and the company is confident that their WiMAX offerings will go a long way to serve the needs of the high-end consumer and business market.<\/p>\n Neotel currently has around 70 WiMAX towers, mainly situated in the Gauteng region. Pandey pointed out that they have a small WiMAX footprint in Cape Town, but that over 90% of the WiMAX sites are currently in Gauteng.<\/p>\n