Local broadband provider iBurst is an affordable, strong performer in both the fixed and mobile markets, according to a recent consumer guide prepared by broadband activist group MyADSL and the University of Johannesburg.
The guide was based on results derived from a number of performance tests conducted by users in real world and laboratory conditions.
The offerings were assessed according to cost, reliability, latency, service restrictions, technical support and upload and download speeds.
Vodacom’s high speed download packet access (HSDPA) offering was ranked as the top wireless broadband offering, with an overall score of 84% because of its great performance and mobility.
iBurst also came in with 84%, but was relegated to second place because it does not offer countrywide coverage.
However, its performance compares favourably with the MTN and Vodacom HSDPA offerings, which are both R30 more expensive for a 1GB offering.
iBurst came in with a lower rating than most of Telkom’s offerings in the fixed-line market, but its 1MBps offering is only R699 in comparison to R682 for Internet Solutions 512KBps option and R661 for Telkom’s 512KBps option.
MyADSL’s Rudolph Muller says iBurst’s download speeds performed better than the 512KBps packages offered by both Internet Solutions and Telkom, but its upload speeds were worse than the competition.
He says it is important to conduct this kind of performance testing because often the speeds advertised bear no resemblance to the speeds achievable in real situations.
Muller says iBurst’s affordability, short installation times and strong support make it a very viable option for broadband users. He pointed out that consumers should take into account the 30GB cap for local content offered by Internet Solutions on top of its hard cap, while Telkom has one cap that includes local and international bandwidth.
Muller says it is very interesting that Sentech’s MyWireless offering has dropped from being the top wireless offering last year to the second-worst offering this year with a rating of 53%. ”This is an indication of how quickly the landscape can change,” says Muller.
He says international price comparisons for mobile broadband had shown that South Africa’s offerings are very competitive.
A one-gigabyte HSDPA offering through Vodacom or MTN is priced at R499, which is 21% cheaper than the same offering in the United Kingdom and 13% cheaper than in Australia. Muller says this shows that affordable pricing is possible where there is competition to drive down prices.
The international price comparisons for fixed-ADSL offerings highlight this point, where South Africa’s is more than double the price of Australia’s offering, the second most-expensive ADSL package in the list, and 350% more expensive than the UK’s offering.