Broadband in South Africa
The first ADSL package, a 512/256 kbit/s offering, was introduced in August 2002 by national telecoms monopoly Telkom. Later, in response to growing demand for cheaper ADSL options, two more products were introduced: a mid-range 384/128 kbit/s offering, and an entry-level 192/64 kbit/s one. On 1 September 2005 Telkom released its 1 Mbit/s offering. In late 2006, Telkom commenced with trials for 4 Mbit/s ADSL. They also began phasing out their 192 kbit/s offering, upgrading subscribers to 384 kbit/s at no extra charge. In May 2008, Neotel launched consumer services, their broadband using CDMA technology.
In late 2009, Telkom began trialling 8 and 12 Mbit/s ADSL offerings. In August 2010, Telkom officially introduced ADSL at 10 Mbit/s. More than 20,000 4Mbit/s subscribers were upgraded free of charge. As of May 2011, Telkom 512/256 kbit/s users were upgraded to 1024/512 kbit/s.
In South Africa ADSL charges consist of three parts: the ADSL line rental (384/128kbit/s R152, 512/256kbit/s R326, 4096/640kbit/s and 10016/1002 R413), the regular analogue phone line rental (R131, which includes a land line number) and an ISP account. The price of an ISP account can vary greatly, ranging from R23 (US$3) for 1 GB to R159 ($21) for uncapped 384kbit/s and R496 (US$61) for uncapped 4 Mbit/s. Products with caps of 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB and 30 GB are also available through various ISPs.
Read more about this topic: Internet In South Africa
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