MWeb not sure about Telkom offering

MWeb ISP [Internet service provider] is not offering its clients an upgrade to Telkom's 10Mbps offering, as it has reservations about Telkom's core network and the copper quality over the last 50 miles, says MWeb ISP CEO Derek Hershaw.

On 13 August, Telkom announced it would increase the speed of its fastest DSL offering to 10Mbps. However, the rider is that this will only be offered in areas that have the suitable technology at their exchanges to support the upgrade.

“Our customers most definitely want higher speeds. They want to download videos and other Web applications, but unfortunately, that high-speed offering appears to be limited to exchanges that have Metro Ethernet,” Hershaw says.

Hershaw says recent comments by MWeb Group CEO Rudi Jensen, that government should give the Universal Services and Access Fund to Telkom so it can maintain its copper cables, is part of the need to improve infrastructure. He says that while MWeb has some of its own networks, it is still dependent on Telkom for last-mile access, which is copper-based.

“Copper still has some legs to it. It can be tweaked so that access speeds of up to 40Mbps can be obtained. That is 20 times the average used by most South African Internet subscribers,” Hershaw says. He notes that government has a major role in encouraging the rollout of broadband infrastructure, and if it had to stick to its policy of doing so, then it will go a long way to bridging the digital divide.

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