CharlesAtkinson
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I'm one of the privileged who lives in one of the first roads to get FTTH in Durban. Telkom sales reps couldn't answer any of my technical questions about the product, but actually had no idea what FTTH was and tried to sell me an ADSL bundled product.
After casting around for further information on contracts, connection charges etc with no joy, I eventually got onto a closed facebook group run by Troy Hector, an Exec at Telkom. I posed all my questions to him on his group and he actually gave me some very detailed and informative responses.
As it seems that the normal channels cannot provide any info, I decided that I had to publish my questions and their answers here in this forum, in the hopes of helping out other people asking questions about what looks to be a great product. So here goes :
FIBRE-TO-THE-HOME QUESTIONS :
Troy Hector you asked me for details about my queries on the new FTTH service. Here they are, hopefully by discussing them in public we can educate some others. As I explained in my earlier post, the call centre responsible for marketing the new FTTH product could not answer any of this and in fact did not understand when I asked about FTTH and tried to sell me your existing Home Premium package which is standard ADSL. If you could help by getting me answers to the following, I'm sure they are similar to what a lot of other clients want to know :
1. I investigated the service when it was released, I know that I have coverage because they online map tells me so, also I watched them dig up the road and lay the cabling a couple weeks ago. The cost of the 20MB service is comparable to what I am already paying for a 4MB ADSL line, so it makes sense for me to contemplate the new service, fibre being much faster and probably more reliable. With regards to the offering, my first question is about the costs of the installation. The advert is for a 24 month contract with free installation and router. However, this being a new fibre-optic line obviously there is no infrastructure from the road to my house. Who will pay for the fibre cabling from my gate to my house ?
Is this covered by the 'free' installation ?
Is the fibre modem going to have to live in a box at my gate and then I must run an Ethernet cable from there ?
2. I am in IT and have my own home network with existing wifi access points and network cables in the home. The service comes with a 'free wifi modem'. I do not need this, as per above, what I need is a modem which gives me a single, wired Ethernet port to connect to the service.
Does the supplied modem have a standard Ethernet port ?
Being a fibre modem, if the modem supplied by Telkom does not have this, is there a specialised fibre modem that I am going to have to go out and buy to get a standard Ethernet connection ?
3. I am currently on an uncapped 4MB ADSL offering, which I use extensively for work and also for personal use. Without paying more than I am now, I will need to take the 20MB FTTH offering, which comes with a 50GB data and unlimited NightSurfer data between 12am and 7am as I understand ? I can limit large downloads to during the NightSurfer period, however I am concerned about the limitations of a soft-cap should I hit the 50GB daytime data limit during the month.
What is the speed and functionality limitation once I hit a 'soft cap' on a 20MB FTTH connection ?
What speed will I then be limited to on a 'soft cap' ?
4. The speed of the FTTH fibre line is rated at 20MB. However on an ADSL offering, the upload speed is approximately one eighth of the download speed, ie. a 4MB ADSL line has a 512KB upload speed.
What is the upload speed of a 20MB FTTH connection ?
5. With ADSL, the contention ratio of users-per-line can be high which gives the impression of a lower speed connection, regardless of the speed of your actual line.
On FTTH, what is the contention ratio that Telkom is offering ?
6. By far my biggest reservation for applying for the service is the 24-month contract. I do understand that when installing new infrastructure, client contracts are necessary to offset the initial installation costs. As I use my line for work and play, I do not see me wanting to cancel my internet connection within the next 2 years, so I would consider a contract. However my big concern is signing a contract for two years on a fixed price. The cost of internet data is dropping and better deals are coming available to the consumer every few months. I categorically do not want to be penalised for being an early adopter, to sign up for a 20MB FTTH connection with 50GB cap at R999 for two years, only to have Telkom be offering a 40MB 100GB account for the same price in six months time, when I still have 18 months on my contract (for example).
I would be interested to know, if Telkom's prices for FTTH drop in time once the product becomes more widespread, will those of us who signed a contract at the start benefit from the reduced prices or will we be stuck paying an inflated price for the duration of our remaining contract ?
THIS POINT IS PROBABLY THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE RELATED TO THIS PRODUCT, AND IS BY FAR THE MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE ON ALL THE FORUMS WHICH I HAVE SEEN.
7. Where do I get a copy of Telkoms Fair Use Policy as it applies to FTTH and the uncapped NightSurfer usage on the 20MB FTTH service ? At present, I am using approximately 250GB of data per month, and I would like to know at what point the NightSurfer service would restrict me as a heavy user ?
I look forward to your reply on these questions. FTTH is a product new to the market and I'm sure that many users have questions such as these before being willing to sign up. Without a comparable service being available, there is a great deal of unknown which will invariably make potential customers much more hesitant before agreeing to the product. It is essential that a forum exist where people can ask these sort of detailed questions and get answers, especially if they are expected to sign a long-term contract.
FIBRE-TO-THE-HOME ANSWERS (By Troy Hector) :
Respose to question 1: The customer is always responsible to supply / carry the cost for trenching & ducting from the road to the house. If an existing duct can be re-utilized to pull the fibre-optic cable through the customer qualify for “Free installation”. Alternatively customer can utilise Telkom’s wholesale T-Connect service at applicable price.
Is the fibre modem going to have to live in a box at my gate and then I must run an Ethernet cable from there ? No the fiber will be taken into the house where we will place the Optical network termination box. Telkom requires power for the box. One port is used for the Broadband service where Telkom will connect the modem and additional 2 voice ports that can be used.
Response to question 2: The Optical Network Termination box has a standard RJ45 Ethernet connector. If customer’s existing router supports an Ethernet WAN interface then you can use it, otherwise the Telkom modem converts the standard Ethernet port to Wi-Fi and 4 LAN ports.
Response to question 3:
Troy Hector's photo. https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net...=81826c22a803a47978a196afe67d9c6e&oe=54FB7BEB
Response to question 4: Upload speeds have been shared with the ISP’s in the relevant Communiques and they are thus already part of industry communication. As set by Telkom Wholesale = 2048kbps
Response to question 5: Telom Wholesale does not share contention ratios on broadband services. Most of these questions are network related as well as business decisions that were taken that are not up for discussion in the industry and / or released into the market.
Response to question 6: Telkom has always increased customer’s value (Speed upgrades) and kept the price the same. We will continue with the same strategy. If the customer migrates or upgrade to a different /new package, penalties will be waved and a new contract will be created. It is only in the instance of a downgrade and End user Devices (Routers) that a penalty will be calculated on the outstanding term (same penalty clause as with most mobile products).Telkom further announced recently upgrades to its entry level broadband ADSL service offering.
Response to question 7: Telkom Internet has Terms and conditions and an Acceptable Use Policy that is relevant to all access mediums. These documents are obtainable here: http://www.telkom.co.za/.../regulatory/termsandconditions/
(Charles Responds) :
Troy Hector, thank you very much for an excellent set of answers. The only additional question which I see this generating is related to the '2 voice ports' on the fibre NTU. Does this mean that this fibre line can be used for voice calls and has a phone number as well as data?? In other words, can completely replace a normal phone line ? Or is there some sort of VOIP service which is available ? Thank you for a comprehensive and detailed set of answers. I hope that this fulfils all readers questions on this new service, I know it does mine.
Charles Atkinson, response to your query - Yes, the basic voice service over FTTx will have a wire line quality characteristic and offer similar, but not identical, features as the current copper based POTS services. The voice service is delivered directly via the two analogue RJ11ports on the ONT allowing the end user to use traditional analogue CPE devices. Consumer developed a second Customer Value Proposition with Unlimited voice minutes for On-Net Calls (Quality voice) which will be available in the market on Monday 15 Dec. The FTTx basic voice service will offer basic Value Added Services such as CLIP, Call-catcher, Call Answer etc, and will support existing calling plans for both Business and Consumer markets.
After casting around for further information on contracts, connection charges etc with no joy, I eventually got onto a closed facebook group run by Troy Hector, an Exec at Telkom. I posed all my questions to him on his group and he actually gave me some very detailed and informative responses.
As it seems that the normal channels cannot provide any info, I decided that I had to publish my questions and their answers here in this forum, in the hopes of helping out other people asking questions about what looks to be a great product. So here goes :
FIBRE-TO-THE-HOME QUESTIONS :
Troy Hector you asked me for details about my queries on the new FTTH service. Here they are, hopefully by discussing them in public we can educate some others. As I explained in my earlier post, the call centre responsible for marketing the new FTTH product could not answer any of this and in fact did not understand when I asked about FTTH and tried to sell me your existing Home Premium package which is standard ADSL. If you could help by getting me answers to the following, I'm sure they are similar to what a lot of other clients want to know :
1. I investigated the service when it was released, I know that I have coverage because they online map tells me so, also I watched them dig up the road and lay the cabling a couple weeks ago. The cost of the 20MB service is comparable to what I am already paying for a 4MB ADSL line, so it makes sense for me to contemplate the new service, fibre being much faster and probably more reliable. With regards to the offering, my first question is about the costs of the installation. The advert is for a 24 month contract with free installation and router. However, this being a new fibre-optic line obviously there is no infrastructure from the road to my house. Who will pay for the fibre cabling from my gate to my house ?
Is this covered by the 'free' installation ?
Is the fibre modem going to have to live in a box at my gate and then I must run an Ethernet cable from there ?
2. I am in IT and have my own home network with existing wifi access points and network cables in the home. The service comes with a 'free wifi modem'. I do not need this, as per above, what I need is a modem which gives me a single, wired Ethernet port to connect to the service.
Does the supplied modem have a standard Ethernet port ?
Being a fibre modem, if the modem supplied by Telkom does not have this, is there a specialised fibre modem that I am going to have to go out and buy to get a standard Ethernet connection ?
3. I am currently on an uncapped 4MB ADSL offering, which I use extensively for work and also for personal use. Without paying more than I am now, I will need to take the 20MB FTTH offering, which comes with a 50GB data and unlimited NightSurfer data between 12am and 7am as I understand ? I can limit large downloads to during the NightSurfer period, however I am concerned about the limitations of a soft-cap should I hit the 50GB daytime data limit during the month.
What is the speed and functionality limitation once I hit a 'soft cap' on a 20MB FTTH connection ?
What speed will I then be limited to on a 'soft cap' ?
4. The speed of the FTTH fibre line is rated at 20MB. However on an ADSL offering, the upload speed is approximately one eighth of the download speed, ie. a 4MB ADSL line has a 512KB upload speed.
What is the upload speed of a 20MB FTTH connection ?
5. With ADSL, the contention ratio of users-per-line can be high which gives the impression of a lower speed connection, regardless of the speed of your actual line.
On FTTH, what is the contention ratio that Telkom is offering ?
6. By far my biggest reservation for applying for the service is the 24-month contract. I do understand that when installing new infrastructure, client contracts are necessary to offset the initial installation costs. As I use my line for work and play, I do not see me wanting to cancel my internet connection within the next 2 years, so I would consider a contract. However my big concern is signing a contract for two years on a fixed price. The cost of internet data is dropping and better deals are coming available to the consumer every few months. I categorically do not want to be penalised for being an early adopter, to sign up for a 20MB FTTH connection with 50GB cap at R999 for two years, only to have Telkom be offering a 40MB 100GB account for the same price in six months time, when I still have 18 months on my contract (for example).
I would be interested to know, if Telkom's prices for FTTH drop in time once the product becomes more widespread, will those of us who signed a contract at the start benefit from the reduced prices or will we be stuck paying an inflated price for the duration of our remaining contract ?
THIS POINT IS PROBABLY THE MOST CRITICAL ISSUE RELATED TO THIS PRODUCT, AND IS BY FAR THE MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE ON ALL THE FORUMS WHICH I HAVE SEEN.
7. Where do I get a copy of Telkoms Fair Use Policy as it applies to FTTH and the uncapped NightSurfer usage on the 20MB FTTH service ? At present, I am using approximately 250GB of data per month, and I would like to know at what point the NightSurfer service would restrict me as a heavy user ?
I look forward to your reply on these questions. FTTH is a product new to the market and I'm sure that many users have questions such as these before being willing to sign up. Without a comparable service being available, there is a great deal of unknown which will invariably make potential customers much more hesitant before agreeing to the product. It is essential that a forum exist where people can ask these sort of detailed questions and get answers, especially if they are expected to sign a long-term contract.
FIBRE-TO-THE-HOME ANSWERS (By Troy Hector) :
Respose to question 1: The customer is always responsible to supply / carry the cost for trenching & ducting from the road to the house. If an existing duct can be re-utilized to pull the fibre-optic cable through the customer qualify for “Free installation”. Alternatively customer can utilise Telkom’s wholesale T-Connect service at applicable price.
Is the fibre modem going to have to live in a box at my gate and then I must run an Ethernet cable from there ? No the fiber will be taken into the house where we will place the Optical network termination box. Telkom requires power for the box. One port is used for the Broadband service where Telkom will connect the modem and additional 2 voice ports that can be used.
Response to question 2: The Optical Network Termination box has a standard RJ45 Ethernet connector. If customer’s existing router supports an Ethernet WAN interface then you can use it, otherwise the Telkom modem converts the standard Ethernet port to Wi-Fi and 4 LAN ports.
Response to question 3:
Troy Hector's photo. https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net...=81826c22a803a47978a196afe67d9c6e&oe=54FB7BEB
Response to question 4: Upload speeds have been shared with the ISP’s in the relevant Communiques and they are thus already part of industry communication. As set by Telkom Wholesale = 2048kbps
Response to question 5: Telom Wholesale does not share contention ratios on broadband services. Most of these questions are network related as well as business decisions that were taken that are not up for discussion in the industry and / or released into the market.
Response to question 6: Telkom has always increased customer’s value (Speed upgrades) and kept the price the same. We will continue with the same strategy. If the customer migrates or upgrade to a different /new package, penalties will be waved and a new contract will be created. It is only in the instance of a downgrade and End user Devices (Routers) that a penalty will be calculated on the outstanding term (same penalty clause as with most mobile products).Telkom further announced recently upgrades to its entry level broadband ADSL service offering.
Response to question 7: Telkom Internet has Terms and conditions and an Acceptable Use Policy that is relevant to all access mediums. These documents are obtainable here: http://www.telkom.co.za/.../regulatory/termsandconditions/
(Charles Responds) :
Troy Hector, thank you very much for an excellent set of answers. The only additional question which I see this generating is related to the '2 voice ports' on the fibre NTU. Does this mean that this fibre line can be used for voice calls and has a phone number as well as data?? In other words, can completely replace a normal phone line ? Or is there some sort of VOIP service which is available ? Thank you for a comprehensive and detailed set of answers. I hope that this fulfils all readers questions on this new service, I know it does mine.
Charles Atkinson, response to your query - Yes, the basic voice service over FTTx will have a wire line quality characteristic and offer similar, but not identical, features as the current copper based POTS services. The voice service is delivered directly via the two analogue RJ11ports on the ONT allowing the end user to use traditional analogue CPE devices. Consumer developed a second Customer Value Proposition with Unlimited voice minutes for On-Net Calls (Quality voice) which will be available in the market on Monday 15 Dec. The FTTx basic voice service will offer basic Value Added Services such as CLIP, Call-catcher, Call Answer etc, and will support existing calling plans for both Business and Consumer markets.
